'All our senior leaders including Devendra Fadnavis have already told that Eknath Shinde will remain as CM. He is doing a good job for the state. Opposition parties are creating confusion'
A separate ministry for welfare of nomadic tribes, 15 per cent quota in jobs and educational institutions for economically backward classes and stabilising prices have been promised in the manifesto of Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance for the October 13 Maharashtra assembly elections.
Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar chief Sharad Pawar stood up when he came face to face with his estranged nephew and Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar at an official meeting in Pune on Saturday.
A mother-son duo was booked for allegedly killing a dog by hanging it from a tree in Maharashtra's Pune district, police have said.
The Congress and the NCP are not comfortable with the name Maha Shiv Aghadi (a grand alliance comprising the Shiv Sena)
Social media influencer Allahbadia is likely to appear before the city police in a day or two.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday said his party will not go with the Bharatiya Janata Party though some 'well-wishers' are trying to persuade him.
'Opportunism is the base of their alliance. The three parties have become united with the only motto to keep the BJP out of power'
He targeted the BJP, saying it gave the option to Opposition to either join them or go to jail.
Even as parleys continue in both states, the grand old party is expected to contest less than 110 seats in the November 20 polls for the 288-member Maharashtra assembly.
BJP Rajya Sabha member Narayan Rane came out openly in support of Eknath Shinde.
'More than 9.5% new voters have been added to the electoral voters' list compared to the 2024 Lok Sabha election.' 'This led to an increase in about 5% to 6% in total votes polled for this assembly election.' 'That has tilted hugely in our favour because we worked hard for registration of these voters and concentrated on bringing out these new voters out during this assembly election.'
Shiv Sena on Monday emerged the single largest party in the bitterly fought Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation polls bagging 52 seats but fell short of a clear majority in the 122-member body, the battle for which had witnessed acrimony with ally Bharatiya Janata Party hitting a new low.
"Just bargaining was going on over what he (Ajit) should be getting. As per our information, he has been given a promise of chief minister's post by pushing Eknath Shinde aside with the help of Assembly speaker's decision (on disqualification of 16 Shiv Sena MLAs)," the former CM claimed.
The third phase of polling will take place on May 7, 2024.
Notwithstanding the recent bickering between the former allies, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday announced that it will start afresh talks with Shiv Sena on the issue of the latter's joining the four-week-old government in Maharashtra.
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.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who heads the Nationalist Congress Party, has said that helming the NCP away from the shadows of his uncle and founder Sharad Pawar after the split is a huge responsibility.
A group of villagers in Maharashtra's Malshiras assembly segment, who had insisted on a "re-election" with ballot papers, have relented after police intervention. The villagers, who claimed the NCP (SP) candidate, Uttam Jankar, had polled less votes in their village than the BJP candidate, Ram Satpute, had planned to hold their own "repoll" on December 3. However, police warned them of legal action, and Jankar, along with police officials, had a meeting with the villagers, who ultimately decided to drop their plan. Despite this, they plan to continue their protest by other means.
Unlike the frenzy and buzz in political circles during the last few days, the meetings on Thursday were held in a discreet manner.
The unlikely power sharing agreement between the Shiv Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress had fizzled out in June following large-scale dissidence in the Sena ranks.
This will be the 49-year-old JMM leader's fourth stint as chief minister. Soren retained the Barhait seat, defeating BJP's Gamliyel Hembrom by a margin of 39,791 votes in the recent assembly polls.
Pawar said after the last year's assembly polls, BJP leaders approached him to support the Devendra Fadnavis government in the state, but he told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the NCP will not go with the BJP and if possible, it will form government with the Sena or sit in the opposition.
Stressing for an alliance, the MPs have conveyed to Thackeray that the BJP was a "natural ally" of the Shiv Sena unlike the "unnatural alliance" of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, Sena MP Hemant Godse said.
The airport, coming up in neighbouring Navi Mumbai, is expected to relieve the pressure on the Mumbai international airport. Some local politicians had demanded that the new airport be named for farmer leader late D B Patil. Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde, who made the announcement, said the chief minister has assured the DB Patil Action Samiti, which is raising this demand, that some other project will be named after the farmer leader.
Virtually conceding the defeat, Fadnavis stated they will introspect and recover the loss in the upcoming assembly elections.
Bhujbal said he had an elaborate discussion with the CM on the prevailing political and social atmosphere in the state.
The Dussehra rally is the major event in the annual calendar of Shiv Sena since the days of the late Bal Thackeray.
Fadnavis was speaking here as the chief guest at the launch of a booklet inspired by the thoughts of senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Shah.
Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has tested positive for Covid-19.
If it doesn't do that, what Uddhav Thackeray postpones addressing today will be there on the table to confront, for whoever anchors the Sena in the years ahead, observes Shyam G Menon.
By ending the Shiv Sena's political untouchability, the Congress is creating a level playing ground for itself in the political battle of Hindu identity, explains Sheela Bhatt.
He also said four of the eight constituencies had been contested by the Shiv Sena in 2019 and staked claim to those constituencies.
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).
All legislators of the Sena have been summoned to Mumbai and they will stay together till the polls on June 10.
Raut's claims have drawn sharp reactions from the BJP, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Congress's candidate from Nagpur.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar had reportedly expressed his displeasure to state Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil, who is from the NCP, about the escape of Sena MLAs
'It is a well-thought-out decision. I feel it is difficult for him now to step back.'
Rana, who currently represents the Amravati Lok Sabha seat, joined the ruling BJP at the party's state unit chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule's residence in Nagpur along with her supporters late Wednesday night.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies on Tuesday welcomed the Union Budget and said it focussed on youth, farmers, women, and has 'substantial allocations' for Maharashtra, but the opposition slammed the annual financial statement, claiming it neglected the western state and only seeks to please the saffron outfit's partners in Bihar and Andhra Pradesh.
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