Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has sacked Sanjay Raut as the leader of its parliamentary party and appointed Lok Sabha MP Gajanan Kirtikar as his successor.
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.
Five Shiv Sena workers, including brother of Shiv Sena Member of Parliament Sanjay Raut, were arrested on Monday in connection with a case of theft and house breaking after the Bombay high court rapped the police for not initiating any action in pursuance to the matter.
A special court in Mumbai on Monday extended Shiv Sena member of Parliament Sanjay Raut's judicial custody by another 14 days in a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the redevelopment of a Mumbai 'chawl'.
The Rajya Sabha MP has been asked to depose before the federal agency at its office in south Mumbai on June 28 and record his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut has stated that his party wants to go solo in the upcoming local body elections to strengthen its base. This statement has raised questions about the unity of the opposition INDIA bloc and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which includes Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress, and NCP (SP). Raut clarified that the party has not called for the dissolution of either bloc and that the local body elections are an opportunity to empower party workers at the grassroots level. He also criticized Congress leaders for reacting to his comments without hearing the full context.
Matondkar had last year resigned from the Congress party, a key ally of the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra.
Shiv Sena member of Parliament Sanjay Raut on Monday said his party is ready for a "street fight and a legal battle", ahead of the crucial hearing in the Supreme Court against the disqualification notice issued by the Maharashtra Assembly's deputy speaker to rebel party MLAs.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance in Maharashtra is facing internal conflict over the allocation of a winnable Rajya Sabha seat, with the Congress staking its claim against the Shiv Sena (UBT). Discussions are ongoing to reach a consensus before the nomination deadline.
Firing a fresh salvo at the Bharatiya Janata Party which had accused the Shiv Sena of paying only lip service to the cause of Hindutva, the latter's member of Parliament Sanjay Raut on Tuesday claimed that the Sena was the first party in the country to contest an election on the Hindutva plank.
Shiv Sena member of Parliament Sanjay Raut on Tuesday said the Bharatiya Janata Party was using central agencies to topple the Maharashtra government by targeting the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders and their family members.
Pakistani Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir reiterated Pakistan's stance on Kashmir, calling it the country's 'jugular vein' during an address to the Pakistani diaspora in Tampa, Florida. He also discussed Pakistan-US relations and the potential for increased investment.
The absence of NCP-SP leaders from a key Maha Vikas Aghadi meeting in Maharashtra has ignited concerns about opposition unity ahead of the crucial budget session and upcoming Rajya Sabha elections.
Speaking two days after his release on bail in a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, he also said a joint parliamentary committee should look into all such cases.
The Shiv Sena on Tuesday voiced its support for Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj as National Democratic Alliance's prime ministerial candidate, a day after senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yashwant Sinha backed Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for it.
The BJP can win two Rajya Sabha seats with the number of MLAs it has, while the ruling allies Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP in Maharashtra can win a seat each.
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Friday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Mumbai to record his statement in connection with a money laundering probe.
He said Shah Rukh is a superstar only because India is tolerant.
Pawar met Modi at the Prime Minister's Office in Parliament along with NCP Lok Sabha member P P Mohammad Faizal, who raised issues related to his constituency Lakshadweep.
Facing the media together for the first time in several days, senior Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party leaders on Tuesday said the two parties were "firm" on continuing the alliance as they resumed the deadlocked seat-sharing talks for Maharashtra assembly polls.
Facing the media together for the first time in several days, senior Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party leaders on Tuesday said the two parties were "firm" on continuing the alliance as they resumed the deadlocked seat-sharing talks for Maharashtra assembly polls.
He said the purpose of Gandhi's Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir is to remove the hatred and fear and not to unite the opposition parties under the banner of his party.
In a veiled attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party, Shiv Sena member of Parliament Sanjay Raut on Tuesday claimed rebel leader Eknath Shinde was pressured to go against the Uddhav Thackeray-led party and also alleged that at least two MLAs accompanying the minister in Surat were beaten up by the police and goons under the BJP's "Operational Kamal".
Sunil Raut, brother of Shiv Sena Member of Parliament Sanjay Raut, was on Wednesday remanded to police custody till November 27 for allegedly masterminding the attack on the office of Marathi news channel IBN-Lokmat. Raut had surrendered on Tuesday at the Parkside police station in suburban Vikhroli. On November 20, a group of alleged Shiv Sainiks ransacked the office of IBN-Lokma' in suburban Mumbai and beat up the staff members.
Shiv Sena Member of Parliament Sanjay Raut's article on North Indians has brought down the image of parliamentarians in the public eye, a Rajya Sabha Privileges Committee on Monday held.
After the Shiv Sena's division in Maharashtra assembly, its parliamentary party was also staring at a split with several MPs set to petition Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to recognise them as a separate group.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has served notices to Mayor Sunil Prabhu and Shiv Sena Member of Parliament Sanjay Raut, asking them to remove the make-shift memorial of Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray from Shivaji Park in Dadar.
Days after the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party levelled allegations of corruption against some leaders of the Uddhav Thackeray-led government in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena member of Parliament Sanjay Raut on Monday said his party should not be threatened with the use of central agencies and claimed that "three and a half" leaders of BJP will be behind bars in the next few days.
The stakes are high. While targeting Muslims for its political game plan, the Sena needs to check its own political path. Else it will face the same debacle as that of MNS and lose its identity completely, says Neeta Kohlatkar.
"We will definitely contest it in court. The Shinde faction left the Shiv Sena, then how can they claim that their group is the original party, and not the one led by Uddhav Thackeray. The Thackeray name is synonymous with the Shiv Sena," the Rajya Sabha member said.
Raut said industrialists should be supported, but not corruption.
The Election Commission on Wednesday expressed "strong displeasure" over Shiv Sena Member of Parliament Sanjay Raut's remarks that Muslims should be stripped of voting rights and advised him to be more circumspect in future in his public utterance.
A shocking incident of misuse of power has come to light in national capital New Delhi where 11 Shiv Sena Members of Parliament are reported to have forced a Muslim worker to break his Ramzan fast and eat a chapati, at the Maharashtra Sadan.
'Not just 12 MPs, but 22 former Shiv Sena MLAs as well as four MLAs who are still in Uddhav Thackeray's camp will be switching to our side gradually.'
Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar's nomination to the Rajya Sabha drew mixed reaction with most members of the upper House on Friday, welcoming the decision even as the Opposition felt this could be a move by the Congress to divert attention from the problems afflicting the party.
Gandhi spent around 20 minutes at the party office and met Shiv Sena - Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray MP Sanjay Raut and others.
Amid a raging row over the screening of 'My Name is Khan', Shiv Sena Members of Parliament today decided to return their security to protest Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan's threat to remove security cover provided to the party's executive chief Uddhav Thackeray.
"We will decide our stand after (the presidential poll on) July 19," party spokesman and Member of Parliament Sanjay Raut told PTI in the backdrop of the strain in the Sena's ties with the BJP following its decision to back Pratibha.
Congress leader Salman Khurshid, who is a part of India's diplomatic mission abroad, on Monday said it is 'distressing' that people back home are calculating political allegiances and asked if it is 'so difficult to be patriotic'.
"Gandhi's disqualification is illegal and the case is also bogus. I am sure that a higher court in Gujarat will do justice to Gandhi," said Raut, whose party is an ally of the Congress in Maharashtra.
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