Raut also refuted the speculation of NCP leader Ajit Pawar joining the BJP.
I think Sharad Pawar invited Ajit Pawar for the INDIA bloc meeting, Raut said.
Pawar said there is not an iota of truth in reports about any rift in the NCP and his joining hands with the BJP.
Thackeray claimed when the Shiv Sena was with the BJP, he (Shinde) would say the BJP is harming the Sena.
'I fear that Karnataka is going to the polls next year and Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has staked claim to Akkalkot and Solapur'
These MLAs were present when BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis and NCP's Ajit Pawar were sworn in as chief minister and deputy chief minister at Raj Bhavan. Both the MLAs said they were with the Nationalist Congress Party and expressed solidarity with its president.
Sources in the BJP said the expansion of the cabinet was unlikely before the session though the allocation of portfolios to the NCP ministers might happen in the coming days.
The Governor has to act on the aid and advice of the council of ministers if the chief minister continues to enjoy majority, but can exercise discretionary powers in ordering floor test, dissolution of house or exploring possibilities for government formation if he has doubts over the majority of the ruling dispensation, according to legal experts on Thursday.
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.
In an editorial in Sena mouthpiece Saamana, the MVA lead party, in a rare move, praised BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis for his 'cleverness and astute poll management.
Speculation about Ajit Pawar's next political move started swirling last week when he suddenly cancelled his scheduled meetings and also made comments which were seen as being soft on the Bharatiya Janata Party and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's camp.
He targeted the BJP, saying it gave the option to Opposition to either join them or go to jail.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday said his party will not go with the Bharatiya Janata Party though some 'well-wishers' are trying to persuade him.
The Sena had said last January that it would go it alone in all future elections.
Thackeray wondered why the BJP has not fielded any member of the Lokmanya Tilak family for the Kasba bypoll.
The Leader of Opposition in the assembly also told an interviewer that he will "100 per cent" like to be chief minister of Maharashtra.
Shinde said his new deputy Ajit Pawar has chosen the path of development and expressed his faith in the leadership of Modi.
If it doesn't do that, what Uddhav Thackeray postpones addressing today will be there on the table to confront, for whoever anchors the Sena in the years ahead, observes Shyam G Menon.
Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Ajit Pawar on Tuesday said he would work for his party till he is alive and scotched speculation that he and a group of MLAs loyal to him might align with the ruling BJP.
The Congress-NCP will now hold talks with Shiv Sena in Mumbai to "finalise the architecture of alliance".
'They want to win 45 out of 48 seats in Maharashtra in the 2024 general elections and joining hands with Ajit Pawar is in that direction.'
An organisation where workers function in different directions never succeeds, BJP sources quoted Shah as telling a party gathering in Mumbai on Tuesday. Shah has also asked the Maharashtra BJP to undertake 'Ghar Chalo Abhiyan' to reach out to every household in the state and called for strengthening the party's booth-level network, a party leader said.
Dissident Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde on Wednesday stepped out of Radisson Blu hotel in Guwahati, where he and other rebel Maharashtra MLAs have been camping since June 22, and visited Kamakhya temple to seek blessings.
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.
A day after the Uddhav Thackeray faction submitted a plea before Deputy Speaker Narhari Jhirwal to disqualify the rebel MLAs, the Ekanth Shinde faction on Friday gave a notice of no-confidence motion against the deputy speaker.
Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar chief Sharad Pawar stood up when he came face to face with his estranged nephew and Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar at an official meeting in Pune on Saturday.
His chamber had a large photograph of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray and a picture of Shinde's mentor Anand Dighe next to it.
Malik said Congress leaders requested that the meeting be postponed to Wednesday.
They reached Jaipur in the evening and staying at a resort located on the Delhi highway, source said.
Currently, CM Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis are the only members of the cabinet.
The chief minister's reply came on a query on Sharad Pawar's statement a day before wherein he said there was no split in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar is its leader. Pawar later denied making such a statement.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday won four seats in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha, while the Rashtriya Janata Dal retained the Mokama assembly seat in the bypolls to seven assembly constituencies in six states.
The BJP has been inducting leaders from the NCP and the Congress since the last few months to expand its footprint in the regions where the party lacks organisational base.
The Mumbai police have stepped up security near Vidhan Bhavan ahead of the floor test slated for Thursday and along the route that the rebel MLAs of the Shiv Sena are likely to take from the airport, an official said on Wednesday.
Bawankule's remark gave ammunition to the opposition parties, with the Nationalist Congress Party saying that it showed the Bharatiya Janata Party had no value for current CM Shinde.
'Balasaheb Thackeray was a man who could control governments, despite not being in power. On the other hand, his son couldn't even control his party'
The state intelligence department on Saturday evening received specific input about the threat to the life of CM Shinde, the official said.
First-time Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Rahul Narvekar on Friday filed his nomination as the party candidate for the post of Maharashtra assembly speaker, election for which, if required, will be held on July 3.
The recent migration of marquee investments from Maharashtra to Gujarat seems to have rekindled the Marathi manoos sentiment.
Shiv Sena has named Eknath Shinde as its candidate for leader of opposition in the Maharashtra assembly, signalling a complete breakdown of talks with the BJP. Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore reports
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