As BJP leaders went all out to project the event as a moment of national pride, some leaders were directly critical of the ceremony with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, belonging to the Communist Party of India-Marxist, slamming the state's role in the Ram Temple consecration, saying the line that demarcates religion and state seems to be 'getting thinner and thinner'.
'Laluji personally telephoned several Opposition leaders to attend the meeting.'
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Mumbai on Tuesday, a day after quitting the Congress.
Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Monday asked the NCP faction led by his nephew Ajit Pawar how a way out can be found in the current political scenario as demanded by them when they had already cleared their stand in public.
Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar on Monday said he was not unhappy with his party, nor had it neglected him.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday cited Delhi's alleged 'liquor scam' to accuse Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao of being under 'remote control' of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Shinde, participating in a discussion on the no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha, took a jibe at the opposition coalition Indian National Develomental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) describing it as a 'destructive alliance' and said the next elections will be fought on the issue of scams of the United Progressive Alliance and schemes of the National Democratic Alliance.
Rebel Shiv Sena MLAs led by senior leader Eknath Shinde, who are currently camping in Goa, will hold a meeting on Thursday to decide the way forward as they are likely to support the Bharatiya Janata Party to form the next government in Maharashtra following the resignation of Uddhav Thackeray as the chief minister.
The MLA claimed his name had figured in the list of nine ministers of NCP, including Ajit Pawar who took oath last Sunday.
Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole on Wednesday said Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has made it clear that there was no proposal to recommend dissolution of the state assembly.
Aam Aadmi Party has moved the Bombay high court seeking registration of an FIR against Maharashtra Public Works Department Minister Chhagan Bhujbal for allegedly misusing his official position to award contracts for rebuilding Maharashtra Sadan in Delhi and Mumbai and receiving kickbacks from the contractor.
'Union Budgets are often used as political instruments and that was the intention of this government too.' 'But while the exercise has settled two fronts, it has left open several others and this has the potential to aggravate with time,' predicts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Nationalist Congress Party leader Praful Patel has claimed 51 out of the 53 party MLAs had told NCP chief Sharad Pawar that a possibility of joining hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party should be explored after the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra collapsed last year.
'The cousins do not have a good rapport with each other in politics, though they may be having a good rapport with each other in family life.'
'There is a hunch that BJP's 'Chanakya' is trying to create some confusion by sending Ajit to meet senior Pawar'
He served as an effective link between the party and government during the two terms of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) between 2004 and 2014. As political secretary to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, he had access to leadership that no other leader in the party had and worked the channels to work out various issues.
Ahead of the Congress-nationalist Congress Party Coordination Committee meeting, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Monday held consultations with senior leaders, including party chief Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
'We know these are mind games Ajit dada is playing, but he (Sharad Pawar) doesn't get swayed by such gestures.'
Taking no chances after the Rajya Sabha poll setback, the ruling Mahi Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra has asked all its MLAs to gather in Mumbai ahead of the June 20 election to the state legislative council.
"I am boring, steady and not impulsive...Emotional relationships and professional work are two different things. I will never mix the two," she said.
The court directed the jail authorities to provide Bhujbal with prompt medical care in case of any emergency.
Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on Monday said he has conveyed to the party high command about recent political moves of the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party to allegedly weaken the Congress in the state.
The Prime Minister's Office tweeted a picture of their meeting but shared no details about their talks.
As reports of political parties swiftly switching loyalties -- to quench their thirst for power -- swirl over Maharashtra, Rediff.com speaks to different players involved in the game of thrones.
As the Opposition on Wednesday held its first meeting on the presidential election, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party reached out to several parties across the political spectrum to build a consensus choice for the top constitutional post with senior party leader Rajnath Singh speaking to Sharad Pawar, Mallikarjun Kharge, Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav and Naveen Patnaik, sources said.
The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday submitted a charge sheet against Maharashtra Minority Development Minister Nawab Malik in an alleged money laundering case linked to fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim.
Chaudhary alleged that the BJP "hates Bihar" after having lost power in the state, which is "back in the centre-stage of national politics" since the opposition meeting hosted in Patna by Nitish Kumar.
Bhujbal said he does not feel that there is a threat to the Maharashtra MVA government.
"However, some members were ready to face the inquiry. (Ex-home minister) Anil Deshmukh was in jail for 14 months. Even Deshmukh was asked to change his role (loyalty) but he stood firm on his decision (to not quit NCP)," Pawar said.
A host of high-profile personalities from the world of politics and business on Sunday paid homage to late Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray on his first death anniversary at the ShivajiPark grounds in Mumbai.
Two days before rebelling against uncle Sharad Pawar and joining the Maharashtra government last Sunday, Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar approached the Election Commission on June 30 staking claim to the party name as well as symbol and subsequently also declared himself as president with the support of 40 lawmakers, sources said.
Addressing a rally at Nanded as a part of the BJP's outreach campaign to mark the completion of nine years of the Narendra Modi government, Shah said the BJP didn't bring down the Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government last year.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Monday said there was a need to fight the forces creating communal divide in Maharashtra and the country.
Hinting at the possible post-poll strategy of his party, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Friday said the chances of Narendra Modi becoming the prime minister were slim, and the Congress could form the next government by joining hands with "the Third Front".
'We are here to reason it out with Shinde saheb.'
Pawar reminded PM Modi of his recent remarks about 'corruption' of NCP leaders, and asked him to act against those who are guilty.
Ajit Pawar had also slammed Raut without taking the latter's name and said spokespersons of other parties were behaving like NCP's spokespersons.
'I had told Fadnavisji that I will be with the party till the Lok Sabha election and I will give my 100 per cent to campaign for the BJP. But ultimately I will have to take this decision (to quit the BJP).' 'When I requested him to see this from the point of view of an elder brother, he could not say anything more after that.'
The 15-year-old Congress-Nationalist Congress Party alliance in Maharashtra broke up on Thursday with the regional party deciding to contest next month's assembly polls on its own and pulling out of the government, setting the stage for its fall.
"If someone wants to go, irrespective of the party, no one stops him. Leadership is needed for this, there is no need to work yourself to stop it. The leader should take care of how to make the organisation healthy by being on the front foot. But there is nothing like this (possibility of disintegration) in our party," he said.
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