The Eknath Shinde faction of Shiv Sena is set to meet the Election Commission on Friday to stake claim for the party's 'bow and arrow' poll symbol ahead of the Andheri East assembly bypoll in Maharashtra.
Surfacing in Mumbai five days after the Dussehra rally, where he was booed off stage by Shiv Sena workers, Manohar Joshi on Friday said the incident was "pre-planned".
Arguing before the entire EC, Mahesh Jethmalani, the counsel for the Shinde faction, also said the 'surreptitious and unconstitutional' change to the Shiv Sena's constitution by Uddhav Thackeray in 2018 and the ideological shift in the party, which aligned with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party to form the government in Maharashtra in 2019, led to a split in the outfit.
He also sought to know why Modi had not visited Ayodhya in the past four-and-a-half years, after becoming the prime minister.
Reacting to the comments, Raut on Monday said the Shiv Sena has "never kept quiet on the issues relating to Savarkar and it will never do so". Without naming the BJP, Raut said the party should browse through history to know the Shiv Sena's stand on issues involving Savarkar.
An organisation where workers function in different directions never succeeds, BJP sources quoted Shah as telling a party gathering in Mumbai on Tuesday. Shah has also asked the Maharashtra BJP to undertake 'Ghar Chalo Abhiyan' to reach out to every household in the state and called for strengthening the party's booth-level network, a party leader said.
Pawar said no one gave such a proposal to the Nationalist Congress Party.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction on Monday approached the Delhi high court seeking quashing of the order of the Election Commission of India (ECI) freezing the party name and election symbol.
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday hit out at the BJP for opposing Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray's directive to state police to keep a record of migrants coming here from other states, claiming the BJP was raking up the 'outsider' card with an eye on the Uttar Pradesh Assembly and Mumbai civic elections due next year.
Raj Thackeray listed out his expectations from the PM in his third term in office.
The court said the disqualification petitions have to be adjudicated expeditiously.
Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Friday welcomed the Bombay high court's decision to allow his faction to hold its annual Dussehra rally at the iconic Shivaji Park ground in Mumbai, and said his party's faith in the judiciary stood vindicated.
Hitting back at the Shiv Sena, Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party leader Devendra Fadnavis on Monday said the Uddhav Thackeray-led outfit's Hindutva is merely on paper and finds mention just in speeches, while it was his party men who faced bullets and lathis during the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.
Supporting the rebel Shiv Sena candidate, Dhananjay Bodare, those who tendered their resignation were miffed over the Kalyan East seat falling into the BJP's quota.
Seeking to strike an emotional note at the first annual Dussehra rally of Shiv Sena after the death of its founder Bal Thackeray, party president Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said he was ready to quit if the cadre had no faith in him.
Ahead of his Dussehra rally, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday tweeted a couplet by famous Hindi poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan, which said that whosoever is his heir will be his son and not vice versa.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday asserted his rebellion was not an act of "betrayal", but a "revolt" and asked Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray to kneel down at party founder Bal Thackeray's memorial and apologise for going against his ideals and aligning with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
Convert the Haryana result into a blessing in disguise; make the calamity into an opportunity. Maharashtra was always the big ticket game in town; MVA must win it. The Congress should shift headquarters to Mumbai for the entire month. Show urgency and a hunger to win, asserts Sanjay Jha.
A case was registered against the organiser of Shiv Sena's annual Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park in central Mumbai for allegedly violating sound pollution norms fixed by the Bombay high court while granting permission for the event, police said on Saturday. The rally was held on October 24 at Shivaji Park in Dadar.
Hearing a petition by former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray against the Election Commission's interim order freezing Shiv Sena's name and election symbol, the Delhi high court on Monday asked why it should not wait for the final decision of the poll panel on the dispute between the party factions.
The ruling alliance partner sought to know what prevents the BJP from making use of its absolute majority in the Lok Sabha to start construction of the temple in Ayodhya.
The EC had allotted 'flaming torch' (mashaal) election symbol to the Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena.
With the new post, the Thackeray junior, 27, who already heads Yuva Sena, will now be a part of the Sena's core team.
The poster also reads, 'People who are pretending and conning others shouldn't forget the day they bowed their heads in front of Balasaheb.'
Political observers say nothing much should be read into the Sena chief's remarks about his new advisory role.
The groups led by Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde on Monday expressed satisfaction after the Election Commission allotted them new names which mention 'Balasaheb' (Thackeray).
The last Sena man to occupy the CM's chair was Narayan Rane in 1999, after Manohar Joshi, who in 1995 became the first Sena CM.
The recent migration of marquee investments from Maharashtra to Gujarat seems to have rekindled the Marathi manoos sentiment.
Activist Manoj Jarange, who is observing an indefinite fast for the Maratha quota demand, on Saturday said a series of hunger strikes will begin in every village in Maharashtra from October 29 if the government fails to grant the reservation immediately.
The Andheri East bypoll is the first after Shinde and the BJP unseated the MVA government in June.
The development came as the Thackeray-led party is reeling under the impact of Eknath Shinde's rebellion and the loss of power in Maharashtra.
Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com reports from Shivaji Park and the MMRDA ground to sense the mood of Shiv Sena workers -- from the Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde camps.
Thackeray, 59, became the third Sena leader after Manohar Joshi and Narayan Rane to occupy the top post.
Raut's remarks came in the wake of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray being recently targeted by the opposition for not moving out of his house during the pandemic. Talking to reporters in Mumbai, Raut said Thackeray has given directives to ensure that Fadnavis, who is leader of opposition in the state Assembly, gets the best treatment.
It will be the first major electoral contest in the state after Shinde's rebellion brought down the previous Maharashtra government led by Uddhav Thackeray in June this year.
The state intelligence department on Saturday evening received specific input about the threat to the life of CM Shinde, the official said.
'Our fight is against his political masters, the BJP and Devendra Fadnavis.'
Rajesh Karkera/Rediff.com spoke to art director Nitin Desai about designing the swearing-in stage.
The actor, who has been vocal about her criticism of the state government's handling of the investigation into actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death and labelled Bollywood a drug haven, lashed out against Thackeray a day after his Dussehra address.
Police personnel in civil clothes will be deployed. Additionally, drones and CCTV cameras will be used to monitor crowd.
