The Bharatiya Janata Party is still confident that the Shiv Sena will never divorce it in Maharashtra and both the Sena and the BJP will contest all the polls together. This was an indication given by the BJP General Secretary Gopinath Munde while speaking to media persons at Thane on Sunday on the ongoing changed equations between the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party.
Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com offers his take on the split between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena.
Among the BJP rebels, a notable figure is Gopal Shetty, a two-time MLA and former Lok Sabha member from Mumbai. He has filed his nomination as an independent candidate against the party's official nominee, Sanjay Upadhyay, in Mumbai's Borivali assembly constituency.
Pawar said some programmes have been decided for the unity of the alliance.
Two days after Bharatiya Janata Party patriarch L K Advani held the Shiv Sena responsible for breaking ties with his party, the Sena today shot back at the octogenarian saying his party failed to provide him with complete information on the alliance breakdown.
Uddhav Thackeray, who played the bold gambit of taking on the ally Bharatiya Janata Party in 2019 and forged an unlikely alliance with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party, was on Saturday left struggling to make sense of his party's rout in the Maharashtra assembly elections.
After having retained the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance has now set its eyes on other municipal bodies in the state, especially Pune, Nashik, Thane and Ulhasnagar.
Amid a row over Remdesivir supply in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad has said he wishes he could "stuff coronavirus in the mouth" of Bharatiya Janata Party leader Devendra Fadnavis, sparking protests by the Opposition.
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.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said the Mahayuti allies have agreed to conduct a 'performance audit' of ministers during their tenure.
He urged people to ignore politicians who only make speeches and instead, vote for those who work.
If the alliance is sealed, the MNS may be given one seat to contest from Mumbai, the Maharashtra capital where his cousin Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction enjoys some influence.
Shewale insisted that a large number of Sena leaders were in favour of an alliance with the BJP and keen to contest the next Lok Sabha polls under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
An editorial in the Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray mouthpiece Saamana claimed the BJP under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah has not only 'muddied' politics of Maharashtra but also of the country.
The seat-sharing talks between the two parties are likely to conclude in a day or two, a BJP source said.
Shiv Sena executive president Udhav Thackeray said the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party would be contesting the 2009 Assembly polls in Maharashtra together.
With local body elections approaching in Maharashtra, a significant portion of the Congress party is advocating for contesting independently to regain lost ground amidst the BJP's growing influence. The party is currently part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance.
Sharad Pawar said everyone has a place in the "house".
Shinde was reportedly not happy as he had to cede the top post to the ally BJP, and was reluctant to take the deputy CM post.
The Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena has moved the Supreme Court against the proceedings of the Election Commission on the plea of the Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led group for recognition as the real Shiv Sena.
Key National Democratic Alliance ally Shiv Sena was tonight understood to have assured United Progressive Alliance Presidential nominee Pranab Mukherjee its support.
Shinde said MLAs are keen on continuing the Sena founded by late Balasaheb Thackeray.
Pratapsinh Mohite-Patil defeated Congressman Anandrao Devkate by 1,22,817 votes.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said he didn't harbour aspirations to become Maharashtra CM, a remark coming against the backdrop of Maha Vikas Aghadi allies' reluctance to face assembly polls with a CM face.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction has submitted to the Election Commission its three options of a trident, rising sun or mashaal (burning torch) for its poll symbol, sources said on Sunday.
Raj also justified his support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, citing the construction of the Ram Temple and abrogation of Article 370 among other reasons.
The Shiv Sena has insisted that the two parties had a '50-50' power-sharing agreement before the elections.
Thackeray said since the SC directed Narwekar in May last year to take a decision on the pleas seeking disqualification of rebel Shiv Sena MLAs, the speaker has met the chief minister twice.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray MP Sanjay Raut on Thursday took a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government while raising doubts on its longevity, saying that he has doubts in his mind about whether the Union government will survive after 2026 or not.
On the Congress and the NCP collectively fairing better than the 2014 polls in the state, Raut said the opposition also needs to be strong in a democracy.
Tharoor also showed the picture of Pakistani Army officials attending the funerals of terrorists after India's strike on their terror bases.
An editorial in Sena mouthpiece Saamana said the issue is of noise pollution and environment protection. 'The Centre should promulgate an ordinance to stop loudspeakers on mosques to prevent noise pollution,' it said.
However, induction in the NCP-SP will come with riders, asserted the former Union minister.
'BJP's last resort to win the election is to divide people into caste, religion, creed. but it doesn't happen in Maharashtra.'
"Punjab and Maharashtra represent manliness and Akali Dal and Shiv Sena are the faces of that manliness," it said.
With focus on 'Mission 150' for the forthcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday expressed confidence that the traditional 'puja' at Pandharpur next year would be performed by a chief minister from the Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance.
Nihar Thackeray is the son of late Bindumadhav Thackeray, the eldest son of Sena founder Bal Thackeray.
He also said the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the BJP will jointly contest the upcoming elections to the Mumbai civic body.
'In the final analysis, with their overconfidence and arrogance, the BJP turned out to be a party that had eyes but could see not, had ears but could not hear,' says Sena Rajya Sabha member Eknath Thakur.
A day after the Bharatiya Janata Party emerged as the single largest party in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena on Monday took a swipe at Narendra Modi, saying the "wave" seen during the campaign lost its force even before reaching the shores and expressed doubts over survival of the state amid a hung House.
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