Modi and his corporate sector supporters have identified Maharashtra as a key state where the BJP-Shiv Sena can pick up more seats. In fact, it is estimated that if the Thackeray cousins join hands, the NDA partners can improve their tally from the present 23 seats by adding another eight to 10 Lok Sabha seats, reports Anita Katyal.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday inaugurated and laid foundation stones of development projects worth more than Rs 38,000 crore in different sectors in Mumbai, giving a big push to infrastructure, urban travel and healthcare ahead of civic polls in the city in which the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction will seek to showcase these ventures to take on their political rivals.
'Very soon you will hear the news of two more MLAs from Uddhavji's side joining our camp.' 'And once the Supreme Court verdict comes out, there will be a waterfall.'
Stating that long-standing ties with its saffron ally have been normalised, Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday said the Bharatiya Janata Party chief Rajnath Singh and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi have assured him that Maharashtra Navnirman Sena will not be included in the 'mahayuti' (grand alliance).
The MNS chief unveiled his party's new flag which is completely saffron and bears King Shivaji's royal seal. He also questioned how many of the Muslims taking part in the protests were Indian.
Unlike other top police officers, A A Khan spoke boldly --- be it while defending 'encounters' in many of which he was involved, or in tracing the cause of the ghastly Radhabai Chawl incident, recalls Jyoti Punwani. Encounters were useful, he said, because hardened criminals who were targeted were beyond reform and no good for society.
However, the AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the SC committee has limited terms of reference and 'cannot bring out the deep nexus between' the prime minister and the billionaire businessman.
Five workers of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena were arrested on Thursday for allegedly assaulting a north-Indian fruit seller in suburban Ghatkopar after a video of the incident went viral on social media.
'Our fight is against his political masters, the BJP and Devendra Fadnavis.'
Shiv Sena's attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party shows that the party has 'lost the battle', says senior BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy.
The perception is rapidly gaining ground that though the chief minister is from the Shiv Sena, the government is being run by the NCP.
Rane accused the Congress of reneging on its promise of making him the CM after he joined the party 12 years ago.
Maharashtra BJP chief spokesperson Keshav Upadhye said there was no political angle to the meeting. "Raut wanted to interview Fadnavis for (the Sena mouthpiece) Saamana and this meeting was to discuss how to go about it," he tweeted.
'His son fought bravely like a true Shiv Sainik and emerged victorious against those whose machinations were to finish the Shiv Sena in the state.'
The Vishwaguru who addressed the maximum rallies and boasted of being blessed with divine energy, who promised guarantees in his own name, turned out finally not invincible, points out Jyoti Punwani.
Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday dispelled any impression that he was not enthusiastic about Narendra Modi as Prime Ministerial candidate, saying he has already given his "best wishes" to him after he was appointed the BJP campaign chief for the Lok Sabha elections.
'Please do not threaten us with street violence.' 'Do you have some humanity left in you?'
The BMC election will hold the key to a new shift in political power -- not just in Mumbai but in Maharashtra, reports Sarthak Choudhury.
Dhananjay Desai has been allowed to spread his poison to young men in Maharashtra and Goa over the last five years, by a 'secular' Congress-NCP government. The 23 cases pending against him have not stopped him. He and his supporters must have thought they were immune when they lynched a bearded Muslim at night. Neither Desai nor his followers, nor the police, nor their 'secular' political masters, must have expected the nationwide furore that followed, says Jyoti Punwani.
What the celebrations overlook is that the law covered cyber crime which users will now be vulnerable to.
'It was a reaffirmation of his party's unrelenting defiance of its erstwhile ally, the BJP; an attempt to forge a new relationship with the community the Shiv Sena had always targeted; and a pointer towards the political imperative of taking everyone along if the fight against the ruling party had to succeed,' notes Jyoti Punwani.
Pawar said Nitish took the decision anticipating the crisis the BJP was planning to bring on.
"I thought why not the son of a person who had contributed for Maharashtra should become the CM and I insisted Uddhav Thackeray to become the chief minister. Fadnavis had worked with Uddhav so he knows how Uddhav is. He should stop questioning repeatedly about how Uddhav became CM," the NCP chief said.
On Uddhav's leadership style, Joshi said, "He is always ready to reply to any question. I found he is open-minded."
The BJP is set to make decisive gains in civic elections in Maharashtra even as it is locked in a neck-and-neck fight with its bickering ally Shiv Sena in Mumbai.
He said last-minute decisions by the Narendra Modi government with an eye on polls will not be helpful in swaying the mood of the electorates.
'The timing of the current episode involving Ajit Pawar is important. The episode has elements of deceit, betrayal and falsehood intertwined'
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said he would move a resolution in the state assembly on Tuesday expressing solidarity with those living in the contentious boundary region with Karnataka.
Mumbai terror attack operative David Coleman Headley, who had been vehemently denying that he had not been paid by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, finally made a sensational revelation before a court today that the ISI had massively funded his entire operation.
Rane's move comes after days of speculation that he may join the Bharatiya Janata Party
The politician who has come a long way, from being a one-time vegetable vendor to one of the most powerful politicians in the state, is in big trouble today, says Neeta Kolhatkar.
When asked about implementation of the CAA in Maharashtra, Thackeray said that will be dependent upon the ruling of the supreme court.
Kovind spoke to Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray over phone and thanked him for supporting his candidature.
The septuagenarian politician, once the right hand man of Bal Thackeray, is now battling irrelevance in a Balasaheb-less Shiv Sena
Two more persons have been arrested in connection with last week's killing of an IT professional at suburban Hadapsar in Pune which witnessed violence in the wake of Facebook posts denigrating warrior king Shivaji and Shiv Sena supremo late Bal Thackeray, the police said.
Talking to reporters in Pune, Swami Govind Devgiri Maharaj also said all chief ministers must be invited for the ceremony. "The PM has agreed to come to Ayodhya on August 5 for the 'bhoomi pujan' of Ram temple. He will be there for one-and-a-half hours.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena leaders who were sworn in today during the expansion of Devendra Fadnavis ministry include some who have been ministers in the past and some new faces.
Chhagan Bhujbal, son of a vegetable vendor, rose through the political ranks by hard work, determination and political opportunism. Now past ghosts have come to haunt him.
How has Raj Thackeray, who is as much a businessman as politician, been able to pull it off, when most Opposition politicians live in fear of IT and ED and CBI, asks Krishna Prasad after attending a Raj rally in Nashik.
Deepa Gahlot lists 10 popular Mani Ratnam films that you can watch on streaming platforms.
