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.
Attempting to break the deadlock in seat-sharing talks for the October 15 Maharashtra assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party will send a fresh proposal to the Shiv Sena even as it said it would like to contest seats its saffron ally had not won in years.
Azmi has slammed the Maharashtra government for atrocities against minorities.
Two members of the Pawar family, Sharad Pawar and his grandnephew Parth, are contesting Rajya Sabha seats from Maharashtra, marking a potential first where both serve simultaneously in Parliament.
The Congress party experienced a significant decline in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, winning a mere 15 seats out of 227. Analysts attribute the poor performance to strategic missteps, infighting, and a failure to connect with voters amidst linguistic and religious polarization.
'The Shiv Sena as a party was going nowhere.' 'Now Uddhav Thackeray has shown his partymen that he can take the BJP head on.'
Here are the famous faces who turned up to vote.
Shiv Sena is confident that Prime Minister Narendra Modi won't join hands with a "Naturally Corrupt Party". Prasanna D Zore reports
Gaikwad booked a seat on flight AI 806 from Mumbai to Delhi for Wednesday earlier on Tuesday through his staff which was promptly cancelled by the airline. This was followed by another attempt to book a seat on AI 551 from Hyderabad to Delhi, again for on Wednesday, which was cancelled, too.
Tension had been brewing between Maharashtra MPs of the Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party. Shiv Sena MPs believe they have been sidelined and treated shabbily at the Sadan. Dhanya Rajendran reports
Stones were pelted from both the sides, following which police used cane-charge to disperse the agitators, an official said.
Some MLAs (from Shinde bloc) have been sending messages that they want to "seek forgiveness from 'Matoshree'.
The Mumbai police have registered an FIR against stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra for allegedly making defamatory remarks against Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde during a show. The police also registered a case against nearly 40 Shiv Sena workers for allegedly vandalizing the studio where Kamra's show was filmed. The incident took place after a video went viral showing Kamra allegedly using defamatory words against Shinde. Shiv Sena MLA Murji Patel lodged a police complaint, leading to the FIR against Kamra under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including for statements conducing to public mischief and defamation. Meanwhile, the Khar police registered an FIR against 19 Shiv Sena functionaries, including Rahul Kanal (Yuva Sena), Vibhag Pramukh Kunal Sarmarkar and Akshay Panvelkar, for vandalizing the studio and the hotel premises. The incident has sparked controversy, with Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray condemning the vandalism and questioning the state's law and order situation.
Banerjee, on a visit to Maharashtra, was scheduled to meet Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray earlier, but as he is unwell, she met his son and minister Aaditya Thackeray, sources said.
Having weathered many political storms since it was founded by Bal Thackeray to take up the cause of "regional identity" in 1966, Shiv Sena faces the challenge of positioning itself as "numero uno" in Maharashtra again as it turn 50 on Friday.
"Unless he tenders an unconditional apology to AI employees, and undertakes in writing to abide by the Chicago and Tokyo Conventions & Rules of the Air and follow all cabin safety and public behaviour norms, we must not let him on board," says the letter.
'We have not decided yet if we will be joining hands with the BJP and, if so, what kind of ministries will be distributed among the rebel MLAs'
Film folk and politicians spent Monday evening rubbing shoulders at the grand wedding reception of Vedant Birla, son of industrialist Yashovardhan (Yash) and Avanti Birla, and Tejal Kulkarni, Supriya and Sanjeev Kulkarni's daughter, at the luxurious St Regis hotel in central Mumbai.
A dispute over sacrificial goats in a Thane housing society led to clashes, slogan-shouting, and heightened security, raising community tensions.
Videos of the alleged heated argument between Gaikwad, his supporters and police personnel at Latur in Marathwada region, have gone viral on social media.
Recent BJP organisational moves and Rajya Sabha nominations have sparked speculation that Prime Minister Narendra Modi may soon undertake a ministerial reshuffle.
Asserting that it was a small conflict, Gaikwad said the staff member of the airline is mad and around eight such cases of indulging in a brawl have been registered against him.
Air India said it has also written to the Shiv Sena communicating the decision to cancel the ticket. Shiv Sena Secretary Anil Desai said that he has asked Gaikwad to change his travel plans as the party doesn't want the tensions to escalate.
On the eve of introduction of a new Lokpal bill in Parliament, Shiv Sena on Wednesday appealed to political parties to stop a "new Gaddafi" from taking birth.
Kamra taunted Shinde using a modified version of a Hindi song from the film Dil To Pagal Hai, eliciting laughter from the audience.
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.
Maharashtra minister Sanjay Shirsat has called for a police investigation into the alleged involvement of AIMIM and its ex-MP Imtiaz Jaleel in the Nashik TCS case, following the arrest of accused Nida Khan. Shirsat alleges AIMIM is encouraging religious conversions and that Khan is part of a larger network.
Shiv Sena president and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday reached out to the functionaries of his party, which is currently battling a rebellion, and sought to allay fears surrounding the survival of his political outfit and the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
The BJP MLA alleged that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is "trying to create a kingdom of criminals in Maharashtra".
'The jail staff told me Kasab was served only jail food and not biryani.' 'They told me that Kasab was beaten regularly after court proceedings.' 'And they filled Kasab's bottle with urine so that whenever he felt thirsty he used to drink urine.'
At a time when elections, both Parliament and assembly, are round the corner, die-hard Shiv Sainiks believe that Uddhav Thackeray needs to reconcile with some important leaders, because they can make or break the party's performance, says Neeta Kolhatkar.
The women's wing of the Sena UBT will launch a Sindoor Raksha Abhiyan, a protest campaign where women will take to the streets to express their outrage.
The Bombay high court on Wednesday dismissed a 39-year-old woman's plea alleging that she was harassed and stalked by some people at the behest of her husband and Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut.
Shiv Sena member of Parliament Sanjay Raut skipped appearing before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Mumbai on Wednesday for questioning in a money-laundering case, citing his engagement with the ongoing Parliament session in Delhi, sources said.
Some Shiv Sena veterans say, "The Sena is eroding on its own, we don't have to quit this party. It breaks our heart to see the end, but it is inevitable." Neeta Kolhatkar on the crisis confronting the Shiv Sena.
The Shiv Sena on Friday said it may shift the temporary memorial to party chief Bal Thackeray, built at the spot where he was cremated last month, on December 17.
The Indian government and opposition parties are set for a showdown in Parliament over a Constitution amendment bill concerning the implementation of the women's quota law and the delimitation exercise. The Opposition is concerned about the potential impact of delimitation on the political representation of southern states.
In the wake of a political row in Maharashtra over the recitation of Hanuman Chalisa, the Shiv Sena on Monday hit out at the BJP and said the Hindutva ideology is a culture and not chaos.
The Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Municipal Corporation demolished alleged illegal constructions at the residence and other properties of AIMIM corporator Matin Patel, who is accused of harbouring Nida Khan, wanted in connection with a TCS case.
Jet Airways' management may not able to implement the pay cut it wanted in lieu of retaining 800 retrenched employees. That's because the Shiv Sena has now got into the act after the breakaway Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's prominent supporting role to retrenched employees.
