Gandhi came along with Mukherjee and while the former president left after sometime, the Congress chief offered to drop him back but Mukherjee politely refused.
'It was the Congress which nurtured democracy, making it possible for Narendra Modi to become the Prime Minister despite his humble origins'
Dismissing Agriculture Minister and NCP chief Sharad Pawar's claim that he had no role in the 2G scam, the BJP sought an explanation from him as to why he and his family figure directly or indirectly in every controversy that has come to light in recent times. Party spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters that Pawar is a senior public figure who has been the chief minister of Maharashtra four times and a Union minister for a long time.
Shiv Sena member of Legislative Assembly Anil Kadam, who had allegedly abused women staff at a toll booth near Pimpalgaon Baswant on Mumbai-Agra national highway two days ago, submitted his resignation to party chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday, sources said.
The two Nationalist Congress Party leaders were administered oath of office by Governor Mohammed Fazal at a function at Azad Maidan in south-Mumbai.
Modi unveiled the statue on December 4 last year on the occasion of Navy Day. He also participated in the celebrations at the fort.
Ahead of the floor test in Maharashtra, what is more crucial is who becomes the pro-tem speaker. And bagging this post is part of the BJP's plan to retain power, reports Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com/
The governor's move comes following Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's letter to the governor seeking the withdrawal of MLCs.
The briefing comes ahead of the parliament session beginning Monday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance is set to host a meeting of its constituents on Tuesday in what is being seen as a show of strength by the ruling alliance amid a get-together of opposition parties in Bengaluru to forge unity, as the two sides step up their campaign for the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.
Top leaders of Opposition parties will brainstorm at a meeting in Patna on Friday to chalk out a roadmap for the formation of an anti-Bharatiya Janata Party front for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, with sources saying that they would look to avoid the prickly leadership question and emphasise on common ground.
The MPs suspended on Tuesday include National Conference's Farooq Abdullah and Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor and Manish Tewari.
Sheela Bhatt reports on the tortuous negotiations to form a Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government in Maharashtra.
Justice Sanjeev Narula said it would be in the interest of both -- the two Shiv Sena factions and the general public -- that the Election Commission's proceedings on the use of Shiv Sena's bow and arrow election symbol and name are concluded soon. It asked the poll panel to decide the issue as expeditiously as possible.
Special Judge of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act court, PR Bhavke heard the arguments of lawyers of Bhujbal and Enforcement Directorate before reserving the order.
Friendship with Ajit Pawar and the eventual destruction of the NCP can only strengthen him and the BJP.
Nationalist Congress Party Legislature party leader in Maharashtra assembly Chhagan Bhujbal on Thursday said his party will never align with the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party for the sake of power.The comments came in the wake of senior party leader Ajit Pawar's interview to a national daily on Thursday, when he informed that the Shiv Sena-BJP had made an offer to him to join the combine with his followers, in exchange for the chief minister's post.
The former Union minister, it is learnt, has already written to Congress chief, Sonia Gandhi, explaining his decision to quit the party.
Cross-voting was held during the Rajya Sabha elections and the Maharashtra Legislative Council polls last month.
The contrast between the two meetings couldn't have been more stark, yet, both were organically linked, the latter a show of support for the former.
Pawar, who had surprised the BJP by forging an unlikely alliance of Congress-Shiv Sena-NCP to form government in Maharashtra after the 2019 assembly elections, has already appealed to opposition parties to keep aside differences and join hands to challenge the Modi juggernaut.
A Rehman, a senior lawyer, had appeared on behalf of Baig on September 20 before the magistrate hearing the case, ignoring an appeal issued by the Pune Bar Association (PBA) asking fraternity members to refrain from representing the accused in view of the "anti-national" nature of the crime.
"NCP president Sharad Pawar, Loktantrik Janata Dal president Sharad Yadav, DMK chief MK Stalin, Bihar's former deputy chief minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, SP president Akhilesh Yadav, BSP chief Mayawati and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal among other opposition leaders will attend the oath-taking ceremony in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh on December 17," said well-placed sources.
The Mumbai police have registered an FIR against 107 persons for rioting and conspiracy, following the protest outside Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar's residence, Silver Oak in south Mumbai, on Friday, an official said.
Sustained persuasion by his family members and senior Nationalist Congress Party leaders made the NCP leader quit as deputy chief minister.
While the Congress camp has many contenders for the Maharashtra chief minister's post, its ally -- Sharad Pawar's NCP -- on Tuesday mooted a new proposal to share the CM's chair in Maharashtra. Chhagan Bhujbal, senior NCP leader and deputy chief minister in the outgoing Maharashtra government, said if the alliance was voted back to power, the two partners should get equal opportunity to share the top post.The Congress leadership, however, doesn't see any merit in the proposal
Rebel Shiv Sena MLAs from Maharashtra have contributed Rs 51 lakh for the flood relief wok in Assam, where they have been camping since the last week, their spokesperson said on Wednesday.
Opposition parties on Sunday lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party after Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar and eight others were inducted into the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government, saying the ruling party's 'washing machine' has resumed its operation to clean tainted leaders and it was an 'ED-facilitated power grab'.
Maha Vikas Aghadi, comprising the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress, has called a meeting of its MLAs in Mumbai on June 7.
The two parties have maintained right from the day of assembly poll results (October 24) that they will sit in opposition.
The Mumbai police on Wednesday recorded the statement of IPS officer and former state intelligence chief Rashmi Shukla for over two hours in connection with a case of alleged illegal tapping of phones, an official said.
Fadnavis on Monday said his oath-taking ceremony with Ajit Pawar in 2019 had Sharad Pawar's backing.
There was considerable disquiet in the Congress after Mukherjee accepted the invitation of the RSS to address its workers at its headquarters in Nagpur.
The Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party today dismissed as "absolutely unfounded" reports that the party would go with the Shiv Sena, but maintained that it has the option to align with any secular party.
The Congress questioned the Maharashtra governor for the "arbitrary" allotment of time to the Nationalist Congress Party, the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party to prove support for government formation.
It was not very easy to leave the family which I built for 20 years but then I got a very warm welcome from the Thackeray family.
He also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of crossing the limits of "shamelessness", adding democracy stands "shattered" after the saffrom party formed the government by joining hands with NCP president Sharad Pawar's nephew Ajit Pawar.
First Look on an all-party condolence meet for Pramod Mahajan in Mumbai.
The former Union minister said it is 'quite heartening' to see that Gandhi has taken up the initiative to involve Kishor to come out with a strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, and the party's revival plan.
Terming the Congress a "shackle" for the alliance, Rashtriya Janata Dal Shivanand Tiwari said the party had contested on 70 seats but did not hold as many rallies.
