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.
Asserting that it has not demanded any specific portfolios from Bharatiya Janata Party, the Shiv Sena said it will wait till the swearing-in of new chief minister before taking a final call on supporting its former ally.
Shinde called on Joshi and Leeladhar Dake to inquire about their health.
The Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday posted a video on X showing checking of Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' bags, and said merely holding the Constitution for 'show' is not enough and one must also follow the constitutional system.
The saffron allies are locked in an intense negotiation on seat-sharing and a consensus has eluded them till now on how many constituencies each of them will contest.
According to insiders, "talks are on" between the Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena at "an exploratory level".
Top Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, including L K Advani, spoke to Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray after which the party, upset over arch-rival Maharashta Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray's visit to BJP office, said it will attend the NDA rally in Delhi on Wednesday.
Chidambaram, who is the Congress' senior election observer for the Goa Assembly polls, also hit out at the Trinamool Congress for its barbs at the Congress for not forging an alliance with it, saying the party continued to poach Congress leaders, despite making an offer of a tie-up.
Malik said Congress leaders requested that the meeting be postponed to Wednesday.
The Sena and Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray labelled each other gaddar (traitor) after Shinde's rebellion split their original party last year, while Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis publicly asserted he had exacted revenge on Thackeray for his betrayal.
In a damage control exercise, the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Tuesday night spoke to Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray amid fissures in the saffron alliance over BJP's overtures to the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has said he did not request Prime Minister Narendra Modi to hold a campaign rally in his Baramati constituency because the fight there is within the family.
The coming weeks are sure to have a lot of drama unfolding in Maharashtra, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday dismissed speculation about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's successor, asserting that Modi would continue to lead the country for many more years.
While at some places people who had turned up at polling booths early in the morning left without casting their vote after waiting in line for a long time, Sena-UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray alleged that the process was slowed down deliberately.
Mungantiwar also dismissed rumours that Union minister Nitin Gadkari may be appointed as the state's chief minister.
'Young people say they know all this emphasis on Hindu-Muslim differences is politically motivated.' 'If you stop watching TV and turn off social media, you'll find the situation on the ground different.'
Several opposition leaders and some lawyers of the Supreme Court reacted sharply to Modi attending the puja at the CJI's residence.
Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra assembly Vijay Wadettiwar on Saturday claimed that there will be major changes in the state government, including the 'main seat', in the coming weeks.
Nikam has replaced two-time MP Poonam Mahajan, who is the daughter of the late BJP stalwart Pramod Mahajan.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Sanjay Raut has been booked on the charge of sedition and other offences for writing an objectionable article against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the party mouthpiece Saamana, a senior official said on Tuesday.
An alleged attack on a Marathi-speaking family by a government employee in Thane district sparked outrage in the Maharashtra Assembly, where the BJP-led government assured justice and condemned the incident. Opposition parties demanded immediate action against the accused, Akhilesh Shukla, and his wife, who have been arrested. The incident has raised concerns about discrimination against Marathi people and fueled tensions in the state.
'The impression that Uddhav saheb is naram (soft or not-so-aggressive), anukool (congenial), manmilau (amiable) is true.' 'But he is Balasaheb's son. So, aggression comes naturally to him.'
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday said he had been suppressed for a long time and the rebellion led by him was a fallout of the unfair treatment meted out to him, an apparent reference to his old association with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena.
Maharashtra's Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council and senior BJP leader Vinod Tawde refuted reports of an alliance of the Shiv Sena-BJP and the Republican Party of India (Athawale) with the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).
While political experts claim that the Modi Magic is missing in the 2024 general election, the common people in the street -- at least those in the crowd on Thursday -- vow that they will vote for Modi and the candidate who contests the election doesn't matter much.
The office of Neelam Gorhe, deputy chairperson of the Maharashtra Legislative Council, has sought more details with regard to a letter by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde seeking the appointment of Viplove Bajoria as Shiv Sena whip in the Upper House, effectively giving a temporary breather to the Thackeray camp.
Senior bureaucrat Smita Sabharwal courted controversy by questioning the need for reservation for the differently-abled people in the All India Services (AIS).
Portfolios were distributed 2 weeks after the MVA govt was sworn-in. Shiv Sena's Eknath Shinde will be home minister while NCP's Jayant Patil will be finance minister.
After the Bharatiya Janata Party, another National Democratic Alliance constituent Janata Dal - United on Friday targeted alliance partner Shiv Sena in its current face-off with Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, saying the Sena's stand is 'completely wrong'. "Shah Rukh Khan has said the right thing. What the Shiv Sena or Raj Thackeray are doing is completely wrong. The entire country is against it," senior JD-U leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said.
Sounding the bugle for Mumbai civic body polls, Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah on Monday asked party leaders and workers to inflict a 'deeper wound' on Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena on its home turf.
'He messaged me on Friday at 8:52 AM and then at 2:47 PM I replied, 'Are you planning a switch?'. At 2:48 he sent a message, 'is speaking to you not possible?' I said I will call you and at 3:40, I spoke to him'
This would give BJP the chance to explore Constitutional options for government formation if there is no clear-cut mandate, explains Sheela Bhatt.
There is no confusion or dispute in the 'Mahagathbandhan' over Tejashwi Yadav being the main face for the Bihar chief minister's post, Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar said on Friday while asserting that the CM will be from the Rashtriya Janata Dal if the alliance gets a majority in the upcoming polls.
'Shinde and Fadnavis have different working styles and certainly there is a crack that has come between them.'
"I also say, on behalf of my party, that we can form government if we want and there can be a Shiv Sena chief minister," Raut told reporters.
The top court said it needs to go through the case files and posted the matter for hearing at 3:30 pm on Wednesday
A parliamentary panel has asked the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to submit a note on amendments needed in existing laws to clamp down on controversial content like the one involving YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia. Members from different parties voiced concern over Allahbadia's crass comments at a YouTube programme and called for stringent measures to punish him and to ensure that such an incident does not recur. The committee's chairperson and BJP MP Nishikant Dubey shared their concerns at the meeting attended by Information and Broadcasting Secretary Sanjay Jaju and other senior ministry officials.
According to political analysts, the results of these bypolls, which saw a high-voltage campaign by senior leaders from various parties, will set the tone for the forthcoming elections in the state, including of the cash-rich Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and other civic bodies.
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