In an era where today's cricketers seldom read reports or build personal bonds with journalists, these four belonged to a different, warmer time. They valued relationships. They acknowledged the storyteller.
'People have asked us to sit in the Opposition.'
She had no greed for power and she sacrificed for the nation by appointing Manmohan Singh as the prime minister, the NCP chief said.
Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Saturday joined the give-more-jobs-to-the-sons-of-the-soil bandwagon. Inaugurating Piaggio Vehicles India Limited's manufacturing plant in Baramati, Pawar from a public platform asked the Piaggio management to provide more jobs to the locals from Baramati. "I am very happy with Piaggio's investments in Baramati. I am happy with everything Piaggio does in India. However, there is one lacuna that needs to be filled," said Pawar.
Saying that he had loss a "dear friend" in Bal Thackeray's death, Union Agriculture Minister and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday described the Shiv Sena supremo as a "magnanimous" leader who was ready "to pay any political price" for his stand.
Defying predictions of his political eclipse, Nationalist Congress Party chief Ajit Pawar has not only consolidated his position in the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti, but also fortified his place in Maharashtra politics by becoming deputy chief minister for the sixth time.
'Because of him, we learned how to work for people, how to take responsibility, and how to stand by our decisions.'
Union Agriculture minister and NCP strongman Sharad Pawar filed his nomination for the presidentship of the Mumbai Cricket Association on Wednesday, a day after BJP leader Gopinath Munde did so, to make it a two-way fight at the October 18 biennial elections.
Thackeray on Sunday said he had deferred his visit to Ayodhya in UP as there was ploy to "trap" his party workers into legal issues.
Refusing to blame the Bharatiya Janata Party for the attack on him, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Thursday sought to downplay the incident and asked Nationalist Congress Party workers not to take the law into their hands and maintain peace. "I don't think it is appropriate for me to blame any political party for the incident. I should not go to that level of blaming anyone," he told reporters outside his residence, hours after a young man slapped him.
'The reason I am not anxious about the opponent facing me in the front (Ajit Pawar) is because of who is standing behind me like a rock (Sharad Pawar).'
While Nationalist Congress Party chief and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar today reiterated that he would not be contesting the Lok Sabha election this time, some senior party leaders would have to brace up for moving out of the state.
Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar on Sunday declared that he was not going to be the party's chief ministerial candidate for the forthcoming Maharashtra assembly election slated for September-October.
K L Rahul struck a fine century as Karnataka outclassed Mumbai by four wickets in the quarter-finals of the Ranji Trophy, in Mumbai, on Monday.
'While taking the decision regarding cricket, the Supreme Court has said that the officials should not be above 70 years of age and they have described these positions as "lucrative" which made me very sad and that's why I don't have any wish to work any more'
Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar MLA Rohit Pawar's mother Sunanda has emphasised the need for party factions led by veteran politician Sharad Pawar and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar to come together as voices for unity emerged from both rival camps.
"People have asked us to sit in the opposition. The thought of trying to get into power doesn't even cross our minds. We will work to expand our base," he further said.
The court also directed the Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction to publish a disclaimer in newspapers, including Marathi ones, that the issue of allocation of "clock" symbol was pending in court.
'If the BJP had contested all 227 seats, I believe they would have managed to secure a majority on their own.'
For his allies and rivals, Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar is an unpredictable politician.
The opposition Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) conceded defeat in the elections to municipal councils and nagar panchayats, accusing the election commission of 'facilitating' the victory of the ruling Mahayuti alliance.
Justice Jamdar then said that the bench will grant relief to Bhamare in the two cases where his bail pleas had been rejected, while the police are restrained from arresting him in the fourth and the fifth cases.
The senior Pawar, however, said that the entire family campaigns during elections.
Hitting back, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar demanded proof of the allegations.
The tit for tat actions came a day after Ajit Pawar joined the Eknath Shinde-BJP government as deputy chief minister along with eight other NCP MLAs who were inducted as ministers.
Rajya Sabha elections in Bihar, Odisha, and Haryana were marred by allegations of cross-voting and 'horse trading', leading to suspensions and warnings from the Congress party.
Former Union Minister Sharad Pawar has refuted claims made by Union Home Minister Amit Shah that the BJP's victory in the Maharashtra assembly polls ended the politics of betrayal and treachery started by Pawar in 1978. Pawar stated that he was the Chief Minister in 1978 and was unaware of Shah's whereabouts at the time. He also criticized the lack of communication between current political leaders and called for a return to respectful dialogue. He also highlighted Shah's past legal issues, including being externed from Gujarat. In response to speculation about the future of the MVA coalition, Pawar said discussions will take place within the next 10 days to address key issues. An editorial in the Shiv Sena (UBT) mouthpiece 'Saamana' also criticized Shah's remarks, calling them 'arrogant' and questioning the BJP's actions in relation to Pawar and Balasaheb Thackeray.
In an apparent dig at Ajit, Pawar senior said if someone keeps saying he will take everything, people may not say anything but will disapprove of it.
Chavan submitted to the police some video clips in which the Rane brothers, sons of Union minister Narayan Rane, were purportedly seen making the remarks.
After Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar announced that the sale deed executed by his son Parth's firm for a prime land in Pune has been scrapped, officials said the company will have to cough up double the stamp duty, which comes to Rs 42 crore, to get the transaction cancelled.
Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar president Sharad Pawar's remarks on Monday virtually declaring new entrant Harshavardhan Patil's candidature for the upcoming assembly polls in Maharashtra has irked a section of party leaders that was eyeing ticket from the Indapur seat.
Raut complained of chest pain on Monday following which he underwent angioplasty, a procedure to restore blood flow through the artery.
In a surprising turn, rival Shiv Sena factions led by Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray have joined forces with NCP factions to contest local elections in Maharashtra's Barshi taluka, setting aside political differences.
Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar head Sharad Pawar and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Monday separately visited the memorial of the state's first chief minister Y B Chavan in Karad and paid tributes to him on his death anniversary.
The Supreme Court on Thursday directed Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar to use the 'clock' symbol in its publicity material in the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections with a disclaimer that the matter was sub judice before it.
Sharad Pawar claimed that two individuals had met him in New Delhi before the 2024 Maharashtra assembly polls and 'guaranteed' the Opposition's victory in 160 of 288 constituencies.
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.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has entered into post-poll alliances with rivals Congress and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen in some municipal councils in Maharashtra, even as Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday rejected the tie-ups and warned of action against party leaders involved.