Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has written to Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla requesting that the adequate provision of Central security forces be made and kept ready if needed, and alleged that police remained a 'mute spectator' while offices and homes of some dissident MLAs were vandalised.
Thackeray, considered a soft-spoken man vis-a-vis his aggressive father, took oath as the 18th chief minister under the tripartite alliance in November 2019, the first in his family to hold a public office.
With uncertainty looming over the Maha Vikas Aghadi government's stability in the wake of Shiv Sena minister Eknath Shinde camping in Gujarat with some party MLAs, the stand of 29 legislators from smaller parties and Independents is likely to be crucial.
'Raj saheb and I are trying to fill the backlog of the last ten years.'
While Uddhav Thackeray will address his party's Dussehra rally at the sprawling Shivaji Park in Dadar, the traditional venue of the event where Bal Thackeray charged up his workers with his fiery oratory for more than four decades, Shinde's rally will be at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai.
'Approaching the SC, getting a favourable decision and overturning the situation (the speaker's order), will be too much to ask for in too short time.'
So worried is Shiv Sena rebel leader Eknath Shinde of desertions that he is asking rebel MLAs in Guwahati to sign affidavits affirming that they won't go back on supporting the 'cause of Hindutva' after reaching Mumbai.
After hearing arguments from Shiv Sena factions led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray, Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar has decided to conduct the official hearing on disqualification petitions against the MLAs of the Shinde group on October 13, advocate Anil Sakhare, who is representing the CM, said on Monday.
The deadline set by the Supreme Court for delivering the verdict was December 31, 2023, but some days before that, on December 15, the apex court gave a 10-day extension and set January 10 as the new date for a decision.
Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole on Wednesday said Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has made it clear that there was no proposal to recommend dissolution of the state assembly.
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.
Against the strength of 288, the effective strength is 287, as there is one vacancy due to the death of Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Latke last month.
In the letter dated June 10, Pratap Sarnaik said even though the alliance with the BJP has broken, personal and harmonious relations between leaders of the 'yuti' (Shiv Sena-BJP) remain.
'More than Eknath Shinde's wish, we want him (Shinde) to lead us in the government.'
Ajit Pawar has the support of more than 40 MLAs of the NCP, according to sources citing a letter submitted to Raj Bhavan.
Responding to a query on when will the political crisis in Maharashtra end, Shinde, a minister in the Uddhav Thackeray-led government in the state, said things will be clear after some time.
Raut claimed that by not deciding on the disqualification petitions, Chandrachud kept doors and windows open for defections.
MVA allies Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress on Thursday asserted that they will continue to support Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, whose party Shiv Sena is facing a rebellion in its legislative ranks, threatening the stability of his government.
All legislators of the Sena have been summoned to Mumbai and they will stay together till the polls on June 10.
"I am also challenging these 13 turncoat MPs and 40 MLAs to resign and contest elections again and see if they can get elected," he added.
'How can the EC then deduce that 76 per cent of the people who voted for the united Shiv Sena's MLAs voted for Eknath Shinde?'
As Maharashtra assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar on Thursday heard the disqualification petitions filed by rival Shiv Sena factions led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his predecessor Uddhav Thackeray, the Shinde group sought separate hearings.
For the first time, a presiding officer was declaring in public what decision he will be taking, the Rajya Sabha member said.
'When I felt that the party is drifting away from Hindutva, I tried to speak to Uddhavji. But nobody was ready to listen.'
"I am also quitting as member of Legislative Council," Thackeray said in a webcast.
BJP Rajya Sabha member Narayan Rane came out openly in support of Eknath Shinde.
At least five Congress MLAs did not attend a meeting of the party's lawmakers in Maharashtra on Thursday, called in the aftermath of the high-profile exit of former chief minister Ashok Chavan that has triggered speculation about more such defections.
'With one fell swoop he (Sharad Pawar) won the sympathies of the NCP workers at the grassroots, his own flock of MLAs and bolstered his position as the NCP chief'
'If the Maha Vikas Aghadi thinks that they have won 30 (Lok Sabha) seats and that would translate to winning 180 assembly seats they would be living in a fool's paradise.'
The name of Devendra Fadnavis has been finalised as the new chief minister of Maharashtra who will be elected as the legislature party leader in a meeting to be held either on December 2 or 3, a senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader said on Sunday night.
Fadnavis on Saturday said the ruling Eknath Shinde-BJP coalition in Maharashtra is a legitimate government.
Narvekar, who polled 164 votes, defeated Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena candidate Rajan Salvi who got 107 votes.
Shinde's appeal came after Sena workers loyal to party president and Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray staged protests against the rebel MLAs led by him.
Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, the Shankaracharya of the Jyotish Peeth in Uttarakhand, who turned down the invitation to the Ram temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya, on Monday said Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Uddhav Thackeray is a victim of betrayal.
Thackeray also condemned the collapse of a girder of an overbridge which was being constructed on a section of the Mumbai-Goa highway in Chiplun city on Monday.
"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.
To keep their MLAs together, political parties are organising dinner meetings and arranging hotel stays for them ahead of the council elections, which are taking place just three months ahead of the assembly polls in the state.
The Nationalist Congress Party on Thursday demanded an inquiry into Maharashtra minister Deepak Kesarkar's claim that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde would have shot himself if his revolt against the Shiv Sena leadership had failed last year.
Rebel Shiv Sena MLAs from Maharashtra have contributed Rs 51 lakh for the flood relief wok in Assam, where they have been camping since the last week, their spokesperson said on Wednesday.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday demanded that Maharashtra's Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar take a decision on the disqualification of 16 MLAs at the earliest.
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