The Election Commission on Wednesday expressed "strong displeasure" over Shiv Sena Member of Parliament Sanjay Raut's remarks that Muslims should be stripped of voting rights and advised him to be more circumspect in future in his public utterance.
Pawar met Thackeray at the latter's official residence and the meeting lasted for about 40 minutes, sources said.
The talks about the reunification had already started when Ajit Pawar was alive. In fact, the two parties even contested the civic polls in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad together.
The trigger was Raut spitting on the ground in front of cameras during a press conference on Friday when reporters sought his reaction to Shiv Sena MP Shrikant' Shinde's jibe targetting Uddhav Thackeray.
Several opposition parties on Wednesday decided to jointly oppose the delimitation provisions in the Constitution amendment bill in Parliament, even as they reiterated support for women's reservation, with Mallikarjun Kharge alleging the move is politically motivated.
'We were told that the 'yuvaraj' had announced to contest 151 seats, and they were not willing to back down on that number'
Referring to last year's dramatic turn of events in Maharashtra, which saw the Shiv Sena severing ties with the BJP and forming government with ideological rivals Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress, Sena MP Sanjay Raut said his party had shown what happens 'when word is not kept' by an alliance partner.
Dominc Xavier wonders when this verbal slugfest will end.
Shortly after the Supreme Court pronounced its judgment on the Shiv Sena-centric political crisis in Maharashtra, Sanjay Raut of Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray said if the top court has observed that Sunil Prabhu of Uddhav Thackeray faction of Sena remains the official whip, then as per its observation, 16 rebel MLAs, including Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, stand disqualified.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) has strongly criticized its ally, NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar, for felicitating Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde at an event in Delhi. The party's spokesperson, Sanjay Raut, views the felicitation as an endorsement of BJP leader Amit Shah, who was instrumental in Shinde's split from the Shiv Sena. While Pawar's party maintains that the event focused on literature, BJP interprets it as an acknowledgment of Shinde's leadership. The incident has sparked a political controversy in Maharashtra, with both sides engaging in verbal sparring.
The rally is being organised to protest against alleged electoral roll manipulation in the Maharashtra assembly elections, with opposition parties alleging that there were around 96 lakh fake votes which had been added in the 2024 assembly elections.
A delegation of Opposition leaders in Maharashtra, including Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray, and Raj Thackeray, met with the state's chief electoral officer to raise concerns about alleged irregularities in the poll process, particularly regarding the voters' list, ahead of local body elections.
Earlier, Raut said he has been holding discussions with Shinde and the talks are "positive".
The cartoon, posted by Raut on his verified Twitter account, shows a tiger (Shiv Sena's party symbol) wearing a clock locket (Nationalist Congress Party's symbol) sniffing a lotus (BJP's party symbol).
The Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray on Saturday said Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar not favouring formation of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe allegations against the Adani group will not lead to cracks in opposition unity.
In the detailed order made available on Thursday, the court said Medha Somaiya is a well qualified and reputed personality and that her image was shattered due the defamation.
A sessions court , on Wednesday, rejected the bail of Sunil Raut, brother of Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, arrested in connection with the attack on the office of a Marathi news channel. Raut and 14 other Shiv Sainiks were arrested on November 25 for vandalising the office of IBN-Lokmat and for assaulting its staff.
Flanked by his party MP Sanjay Raut, Uddhav received his cousin at the entrance of the Matoshree bungalow, one of the most recognised landmarks in Mumbai.
Continuing its attack on Sachin Tendulkar, the Shiv Sena on Sunday said there was no instance of him helping any Marathi cricketer while Sunil Gavaskar was a "genuine Maharashtrian" and had given Test caps to many players from the state during his tenure as India captain.
Kamra taunted Shinde using a modified version of a Hindi song from the film Dil To Pagal Hai, eliciting laughter from the audience.
Raut said there is always give and take in an alliance and they gave Ramtek and Kolhapur seats to the Congress. He said Sena-UBT has also given Amravati to the Congress.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray MP Sanjay Raut on Saturday stressed that all are equal stakeholders in the Maha Vikas Aghadi, his comment coming after a Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar leader quoted party supremo Sharad Pawar as saying that although his outfit contested fewer Lok Sabha seats, the situation would be different in the Maharashtra assembly polls.
Raut's reaction came after former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said that BJP and Shiv Sena are 'not enemies'.
A special court in Mumbai has said that Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut dealt with some "unaccounted money" for purchasing plots at Kihim near Alibag in Raigad district, but the same cannot be "thrown in the stock of proceeds of crime (POC) under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA)".
Kunal Kamra has accepted money from Uddhav Thackeray and is targeting Eknath Shinde, Mhaske alleged.
In his weekly column 'Rokhthok' in the party mouthpiece Saamana, Raut said state Chief Minister and Sena president Uddhav Thackeray in his address to Shiv Sainiks on January 23 had turned the tables on the BJP, which was criticising him over his illness.
Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan is under attack from the Shiv Sena again, this time for his criticism of yoga guru Baba Ramdev's proposed hunger strike against corruption.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday said the rebels have chosen their way and there would be no hindrance from the party in the path of the dissidents to associate with the Bharatiya Janata Party, and the Sena will play the role of constructive opposition to the new government.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray on Friday slammed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) over the India and Pakistan clash in the ongoing Asia Cup 2025.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Sanjay Raut on Friday took a dig at Shiv Sena chief and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and claimed a rift in the latter's party, saying Maharashtra will have a third deputy chief minister from the fold.
He said that ruling party MLAs Manda Mhatre (BJP) and Sanjay Gaikwad (Shiv Sena) have also spoken about the duplication of voters and irregularities in the electoral rolls.
The JD-U Rajya Sabha MP said Nitish Kumar has built his image such that makes him the best fit for being the convenor of the opposition grouping.
The Mumbai police have registered an FIR against stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra for allegedly making defamatory remarks against Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde during a show. The police also registered a case against nearly 40 Shiv Sena workers for allegedly vandalizing the studio where Kamra's show was filmed. The incident took place after a video went viral showing Kamra allegedly using defamatory words against Shinde. Shiv Sena MLA Murji Patel lodged a police complaint, leading to the FIR against Kamra under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including for statements conducing to public mischief and defamation. Meanwhile, the Khar police registered an FIR against 19 Shiv Sena functionaries, including Rahul Kanal (Yuva Sena), Vibhag Pramukh Kunal Sarmarkar and Akshay Panvelkar, for vandalizing the studio and the hotel premises. The incident has sparked controversy, with Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray condemning the vandalism and questioning the state's law and order situation.
"Unless he tenders an unconditional apology to AI employees, and undertakes in writing to abide by the Chicago and Tokyo Conventions & Rules of the Air and follow all cabin safety and public behaviour norms, we must not let him on board," says the letter.
Opposition parties are demanding a full Parliament discussion on the West Asia conflict, criticising the government's silence and calling for a contingency plan to protect India's energy security and citizens.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) has demanded the Bharat Ratna for Shiv Sena founder late Bal Thackeray, calling for the highest civilian honor to be bestowed upon the late leader on the occasion of his 99th birth anniversary. Party leader Sanjay Raut criticized the BJP-led government for awarding the Bharat Ratna to individuals he deemed undeserving and argued that Thackeray, who he described as the "sower of Hindutva seeds," deserves the honor. Raut also emphasized the significance of Thackeray's upcoming birth centenary, asserting that awarding him the Bharat Ratna before the centenary would also be an honor for Veer Savarkar.
An editorial in the Sena-UBT mouthpiece Saamana also claimed the possibility of rapprochement between Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray has rattled "Maharashtra baiters".
He is learnt to have discussed the formulation of a joint opposition strategy on the issue of Lakhimpur Kheri violence and the detention of prominent leaders including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Breaking the nearly three-decade-old dominance of the undivided Shiv Sena, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday emerged victorious in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, and also vanquished the alliance of Nationalist Congress Party factions led by Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar in the Pune civic body.
A single bench of Justice Bharati Dangre also permitted the ED to amend its application as the order of the special court that granted bail to Sanjay Raut was not available on Wednesday when the application was filed.
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