Raut said his party only wants implementation of what was decided between the two allies before the October 21 assembly polls.
Uddhav Thackeray and his followers have the option to stop riding a tiger and commence work around a more meaningful and enduring political ideology. It is an option Eknath Shinde's side may not have, supported as they were by the BJP, to maintain continuity of the old Sena, argues Shyam G Menon.
Thackeray claimed when the Shiv Sena was with the BJP, he (Shinde) would say the BJP is harming the Sena.
For a three-year-old party to diminish the aura surrounding a four-decade-old outfit that has been synonymous with Marathi pride so far, was a mammoth task but Raj Thackeray and his Maharashtra Navanirman Sena did just that. The MNS dashed the hopes of Raj's estranged cousin and Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav, who has to carry forward his father Bal Thackeray's legacy, by bagging 13 seats in their maiden assembly poll foray.
The compulsions of the Hindutva vote bank over 25 years in Maharashtra have made the two parties the oldest ideological partners and it is unrealistic to believe the situation has changed, reports Sunil Gatade.
The last Sena man to occupy the CM's chair was Narayan Rane in 1999, after Manohar Joshi, who in 1995 became the first Sena CM.
Key National Democratic Alliance ally Shiv Sena was tonight understood to have assured United Progressive Alliance Presidential nominee Pranab Mukherjee its support.
Shiv Sainiks on Sunday made a beeline to Matoshree, the residence of Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray in Mumbai to greet him on his 84th birthday but the veteran leader did not meet any of them owing to security reasons.
Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray is back, in an implicit admission that he erred in his political judgement. A few years ago, Thackeray had annointed his son Uddhav as the party's executive president bypassing his cousin Raj, who went on to form the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). Incidentally, the MNS spoiled the prospects of the Shiv Sena in the recent Maharashtra Assembly elections.
A controversy has erupted over the burial place of 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon in Mumbai, with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party claiming the grave was 'beautified' and attempts made to turn it into a shrine of sorts.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) on Monday claimed Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar has failed to create a successor who could take his party forward.
Rane said he would quit as leader of opposition on the floor of the House in the monsoon session of the state legislature beginning July 11.
Whether Thackeray's death would bring together Uddhav and his estranged cousin, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray, to avoid a division in Marathi votes, remains to be seen.
A day after the ice was broken, Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party leaders on Saturday held talks to end the tangle over seat-sharing for Maharashtra Assembly polls but failed to reach a consensus with BJP rejecting Sena's formula offering it 125 seats to contest and instead upped its ante by suggesting a new proposal.
Several opposition parties on Wednesday decided to jointly oppose the delimitation provisions in the Constitution amendment bill in Parliament, even as they reiterated support for women's reservation, with Mallikarjun Kharge alleging the move is politically motivated.
The two oldest NDA allies insisted they did not want the alliance to come apart.
With the new post, the Thackeray junior, 27, who already heads Yuva Sena, will now be a part of the Sena's core team.
Shiv Sena on Sunday made it clear that it won't make any more concession for BJP, offering to cede it only 119 out of the total 288 seats in Maharashtra Assembly for the next month's polls, and said this was "the final attempt" to break the logjam over seat-sharing.
The Maharashtra BJP said that it has no objection to Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray becoming chief minister after the next Assembly polls in the state.
Fadnavis, a former CM, also said that he would stay outside the government, but within a couple of hours, BJP president J P Nadda announced that Fadnavis will take oath as deputy CM.
As Uddhav Thackeray consolidates his hold over the Shiv Sena, conflict within the ranks seems inevitable, says Neeta Kolhatkar.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case, on Thursday told a special court in Mumbai that during the custody, the central agency kept him a room that had no window and ventilation.
In his weekly column 'Rokhthok' in the party mouthpiece Saamana, Raut said state Chief Minister and Sena president Uddhav Thackeray in his address to Shiv Sainiks on January 23 had turned the tables on the BJP, which was criticising him over his illness.
'If we politicians cross the line, the common man teaches us a lesson'
This will be 'an Uddhav Thackeray government controlled by a remote now held by Sharad Pawar.'
'The Sena can quickly reduce most solutions to violence.' 'When in power, it will revert to this gene which is coded into it and we will no doubt produce entertaining and frightening moments,' says Aakar Patel.
Raj's move is seen as the result of a fallout with cousin Udhdhav.
The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance, which secured a landslide victory in the recent Maharashtra assembly elections, is set to form the new government in the state. Outgoing Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, his deputies Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar met Union Home Minister Amit Shah to finalize a power-sharing agreement. The alliance partners, BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP, will decide on ministerial berths at the meeting with Shah. Political circles are abuzz about the social equations in Maharashtra influencing the choice of the next Chief Minister.
There's no telling how long this government will last or how cordial the relations between the alliance partners will be, but it tells us that while constancy and fealty pay, timing is everything, points out Aditi Phadnis.
In the one year since his father, Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray's death, Uddhav may not have done much, but the coming months will show if it was time wasted or spent in useful strategy-making, says Mahesh Vijapurkar.
Unlike the frenzy and buzz in political circles during the last few days, the meetings on Thursday were held in a discreet manner.
Regarding alliance with the Congress, the Sena's political rival till recently, Raut said leaders of the country's oldest party have contributed to freedom struggle as well as development of Maharashtra.
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.
The Sena said given what has been happening within his party, Kejriwal should cease to preach others about politics.
'I am still someone who will open my mouth and speak if I find something is wrong or I dislike anything. Nothing can make me quiet,' Maharashtra Minister Narayan Rane, whose son Nitesh was arrested in Goa this week, tells Neeta Kolhatkar.
Convert the Haryana result into a blessing in disguise; make the calamity into an opportunity. Maharashtra was always the big ticket game in town; MVA must win it. The Congress should shift headquarters to Mumbai for the entire month. Show urgency and a hunger to win, asserts Sanjay Jha.
What do the leads from Maharashtra tell you about the emerging trends in the state? Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com explains.
The incident occurred between Diva and Kopar railway stations when the overcrowded train was going towards Kasara, an official said.
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.
A little over a year after the death of Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, his sons Uddhav and Jaidev are locked in a legal row over property worth crores left behind by the party patriarch.
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