'It is a well-thought-out decision. I feel it is difficult for him now to step back.'
The Nationalist Congress Party, which is part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra, on Friday won Aurangabad and Pune graduates' constituencies of the state Legislative Council.
Polling for 16 Rajya Sabha seats in four states will be held on Friday amid allegations of attempts at horse-trading by rival parties which have corralled their MLAs in hotels and scenic resorts, prompting the Election Commission to appoint special observers and order videography of the entire exercise.
The elder son of party chief Uddhav Thackeray will become the first member of the clan ever to contest an election.
He spent Saturday at his brother's home in Mumbai even as his uncle and NCP chief Sharad Pawar attended a party meeting where most of the NCP MLAs were present.
In a major setback to Maharashtra's ruling alliance of Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday won three of the six Rajya Sabha seats, while the ruling combine questioned the eight-hour delay in counting of votes.
In his letter to Ajit Pawar, who too is a deputy CM, Fadnavis said Malik has the right to attend the assembly as an MLA and added that "we (the BJP) do not harbour any personal animosity or grudge" against him.
Leaders from 26 opposition parties, in power individually or in alliance in Delhi and 10 states, are meeting in Bengaluru to discuss strategy to take on the Narendra Modi-led NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
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.
Fadnavis's resignation came a day before the expiry of the 13th Legislative Assembly of the state.
Describing Shiv Sena as a "natural ally", BJP dropped hints that it would prefer the estranged saffron party to be a partner in its government in Maharashtra even while Nationalist Congress Party's unconditional support continues to be on offer.
Bharatiya Janata Party Rajya Sabha MP Nitin Gadkari, late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan's daughter Poonam, former Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Vijaysinh Mohite Patil are a few of the 29 new entrants to the 16th Lok Sabha among the 48 MPs from Maharashtra.
As the Bharatiya Janata Party seeks the trust vote on the floor of the Maharashtra assembly on Wednesday, the Shiv Sena has announced that it will not vote in favour of the BJP's minority government.
We will do whatever we can for the justice of the Marathi-speaking population in Karnataka, said Fadnavis.
Shivraj Singh Chouhan was on Saturday sworn in as Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister for third consecutive term, nearly a week after he led Bharatiya Janata Party to a spectacular hat-trick in Assembly elections.
The Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra will abstain from voting in the Legislative Assembly if a minority government headed by the Bharatiya Janata Party seeks trust vote.
Nearly 4,800 elected MPs and MLAs will vote on Monday to elect the 15th President of India, with National Democratic Alliance candidate Droupadi Murmu having a clear edge over Opposition's Yashwant Sinha as over 60 per cent votes are expected to be cast in her favour.
Murmu's vote share is now likely to go past 61 per cent, while it was earlier estimated to be around 50 per cent at the time of her nomination.
If a local court in Mumbai allows former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh and minister Nawab Malik to cast their votes in the June 10 Rajya Sabha elections, the two leaders will be brought to the Vidhan Bhavan, the state legislature complex in Mumbai, at a specific time to take part in the voting process, an official said on Wednesday.
"I also say, on behalf of my party, that we can form government if we want and there can be a Shiv Sena chief minister," Raut told reporters.
Union ministers Ravneet Singh Bittu and George Kurian were elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha Tuesday along with senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi and former minister Upendra Kushwaha.
AIMIM MLA Waris Pathan was suspended from Maharashtra assembly for refusing to say 'Bharat mata ki jai'.
With the BJP backing off from the race, the onus to form government now rests with the Sena, which has indicated that it might rope in the Congress and the NCP to prop up a government.
As the nation woke up to images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi splashed across the front page of newspapers by Reliance Industries to announce the launch of its 4G services, Shiv Sena's Member of Parliament from South Mumbai, Arvind Sawant, was not impressed.
"Do not worry. This relationship will go long. Our alliance will go a long way," the sources quoted Uddhav as telling the MLAs.
The Supreme Court Tuesday said suspension from legislative assembly for one year should be linked with some purpose and there has to be an 'overpowering' reason that the member should not be allowed to even attend the next session.
Members of the BJP and the Shinde faction staged a demonstration in the Vidhan Bhavan complex on Thursday while holding banners which read: "AU kaun hain" (who is AU).
Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com presents 10 dynasts of the BJP who have managed to get elected this time round.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday allocated portfolios to the twenty-member council of ministers, including 10 of the Shiv Sena, who were inducted into his expanded cabinet.
Maharashtra now has 20 ministers, including the chief minister, after the council of ministers was expanded on August 9 with the induction of 18 members.
The Supreme Court said on Wednesday the issues related to the Maharashtra political crisis, triggered by the differences in the Shiv Sena, are "tough" constitutional questions to decide as they have "very serious" ramifications for the polity.
There has been a whopping 164 per cent growth in assets of 216 members of Legislative Assembly, who are seeking re-election to the Maharashtra assembly, since the last polls, as per a study conducted by two Non-Governmental Organisations.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is in no hurry to engineer a split or woo legislators from other parties at this juncture, though it is short of numbers in the Maharashtra assembly.
Members of the Opposition bloc MVA latched on the HC ruling and staged demonstrations in the legislature complex in Nagpur against the state government.
Marking a vertical split in the Nationalist Congress Party, its senior leader Ajit Pawar joined the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government as deputy chief minister on Sunday.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party has informed the Election Commission that he has been elected national president of the party.
Earlier it said floor test is the only way to settle all issues that have entangled the politics of Maharashtra following a rebellion by Sena leader Eknath Shinde leading to a survival crisis of the Uddhav Thackeray-led coalition government.
Senior lawyer Kapil Sibal told a five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud that Koshyari had sworn in Shinde without even asking him which party he and the other legislators supporting him belonged to.
If Maratha activist Manoj Jarange Patil drops a hint of supporting or opposing a particular coalition on the eve of polling on November 20, things may change overnight.
President's Rule can be revoked before the six-month period if a situation emerges for formation of a stable government.
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