MNS chief Raj Thackeray met Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray to finalize seat-sharing arrangements for the upcoming civic polls. The meeting occurred as the deadline for filing nominations ended. The alliance aims to challenge the BJP and Shinde-led Shiv Sena in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections.
Former Union minister Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said that there is no need for the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) to declare a chief ministerial face ahead of the state assembly elections.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced that he, his deputies Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde, will work in shifts to ensure round-the-clock governance. Fadnavis will work from 12 noon to midnight, Ajit Pawar, known for his early rising habits, will be on duty in the morning, and Shinde, known for his late-night work ethic, will handle the night shift. This arrangement comes after Ajit Pawar's controversial return to the BJP-led government following a split from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). The NCP, under Sharad Pawar's leadership, is now a part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance with the Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT). The recent assembly elections saw the Mahayuti alliance, comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar's NCP faction, securing a comfortable majority.
The Election Commission on Friday met the warring factions of the NCP led by Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar over their claims to the party name and poll symbol.
An NCP worker from Pune wrote a letter in blood, appealing to Pawar to withdraw his decision and not make him and several other party workers "orphan".
The Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party could suffer in the Lok Sabha polls due to "overconfidence" as its campaign is going on the lines of its 2004 "India shining" slogan, nationalist Congress Party chief and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said on Thursday.
'For a meaningful alliance, every party has to do some sacrifice.' 'That sacrifice will come only when you persuade people.' 'And that task can be done by only a leader like Sharad Pawar.'
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.
'We know these are mind games Ajit dada is playing, but he (Sharad Pawar) doesn't get swayed by such gestures.'
'We have given riot-free Maharashtra in our 18-month rule.'
'Praful Patel, Dilip Walse-Patil and Chhagan Bhujbal are not the ones who will go with Ajit Pawar'
'There is no grain of truth in the speculation that the Congress is thinking of contesting the Lok Sabha elections without taking Sharad Pawar along'
Pawar did not entertain requests from members of the opposition INDIA alliance to not share stage with Modi.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party head Ajit Pawar on Monday said discussions were underway among the Mahayuti partners to finalise a formula for the new government formation in the state.
Hitting out at Ajit Pawar for his dig at Sharad Pawar's age, Nationalist Congress Party working president Supriya Sule, in a stern response on Wednesday, asked the Maharashtra deputy CM not to disrespect her father.
Asked about the Sharad Pawar faction taking action against MLAs who are joining his group, Ajit Pawar said they can exercise their rights.
Though the contest is tough in Baramati, Sule has an edge over her rival as the locals may not break the pattern that she is meant for the Lok Sabha and Ajit Pawar for the state assembly, the political analyst felt.
Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) president Sharad Pawar has invited Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar to share a meal at his residence in Baramati during their visit to his hometown on March 2.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has condemned adverse remarks made against his uncle and Nationalist Congress Party-Saradchandra Pawar chief Sharad Pawar by ruling Mahayuti legislator Sadabhau Khot, and said such comments will not be tolerated.
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.
Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole has said that his party's top brass will discuss with Nationalist Congress Party founder Sharad Pawar his much-debated meeting with politically estranged nephew and state Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar when the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) holds its conclave in Mumbai later this month.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday said talks on the chief ministerial candidate of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) for the upcoming Maharashtra assembly polls can be held later as its first task is to dislodge the 'corrupt' Mahayuti-led dispensation in the state.
The old posters which had Ajit Pawar, Praful Patel alongside Sharad Pawar have been removed from outside the office premises.
Pawar's recent comment which was inferred as defence of Modi was welcomed by the BJP and party president Amit Shah had thanked Pawar for the same.
Sharad Pawar in Amravati said, "Today, we are a part of Maha Vikas Aghadi, and we are willing to work together. But the desire alone is not always enough. The allotment of seats, whether there are any problems or not, has not been discussed yet. So how can I tell you about this?"
A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra took note of the submissions of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the office of the speaker, that some more time will be needed to pass orders on the disqualification pleas.
'Because of him, we learned how to work for people, how to take responsibility, and how to stand by our decisions.'
Pawar tried to discourage party leader and state minister Dharmarao Baba Aatram's daughter Bhagyashri from crossing over to the Sharad Pawar-led NCP-SP.
Ajit Pawar, who heads the Nationalist Congress Party, which is in an alliance with pro-Hindutva BJP and the Shiv Sena, noted Chief Ministers Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), Chandrababu Naidu (Andhra Pradesh) and Nitish Kumar (Bihar) -- all secular politicians -- aligned with the BJP for the sake of development of their respective states.
Maharashtra Nationalist Congress Party president Jayant Patil on Sunday said his party has moved a disqualification petition against Ajit Pawar and eight others who took oath as ministers in the Eknath Shinde-led state government.
'If the BJP had contested all 227 seats, I believe they would have managed to secure a majority on their own.'
He urged people to ignore politicians who only make speeches and instead, vote for those who work.
Criticising the Election Commission ahead of the local body elections, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Monday claimed that 9.6 million fake voters have been added, as per the information received.
A delegation of Opposition leaders in Maharashtra, including Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray, and Raj Thackeray, met with the state's chief electoral officer to raise concerns about alleged irregularities in the poll process, particularly regarding the voters' list, ahead of local body elections.
Anil Deshmukh said the whole of Maharashtra and India knows that Ajit Pawar and those with him hurriedly joined the government after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech in Bhopal.
'Many resignation dramas are played out to make others realise one's importance, but Sharad Pawar would not play such petty games.'
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.
Ajit Pawar-led group was the real Nationalist Congress Party when two factions emerged in the party in July 2023, Maharashtra assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on Thursday held.
Tension prevailed outside a polling booth in Baramati town in Maharashtra's Pune district after Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar candidate Yugendra Pawar's mother alleged intimidation and malpractices by workers of the rival Nationalist Congress Party led by sitting MLA Ajit Pawar.
