To keep their MLAs together, political parties are organising dinner meetings and arranging hotel stays for them ahead of the council elections, which are taking place just three months ahead of the assembly polls in the state.
Pawar did not entertain requests from members of the opposition INDIA alliance to not share stage with Modi.
The Maharashtra Assembly elections are taking place today, with the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti alliance seeking to retain power and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) hoping for a comeback. The campaign saw prominent leaders like Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra crisscrossing the state to garner votes. The Mahayuti is banking on popular schemes while the MVA focuses on issues like caste-based census and social justice. The elections have also seen a significant rise in the number of candidates and voters.
The court also directed YouTube and a Marathi news channel to forthwith remove the video of the press conference and also restrained them from uploading it in future.
'I love to meet people.' 'I love that personal connect when they express their genuine, heartfelt feelings.'
Former Union minister Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said that there is no need for the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) to declare a chief ministerial face ahead of the state assembly elections.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday said that some leaders often seen at agitations are a part of the Barsu refinery protests and they have inputs that a group trying to create disruptions in the state is also playing a role there to defame the state government.
BJP leader Nitesh Rane criticizes MNS after alleged assault on a man for not speaking Marathi, sparking political controversy.
BJP MP and actor Ravi Kishan has been awarded the Sansad Ratna for his outstanding performance in the Lok Sabha, becoming the first actor-turned-politician to receive the honour.
The Bharatiya Janata Party never contacted Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar and certain imaginary news is being spread, state BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule claimed on Monday.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Friday described the Election Commission's decision to recognise his faction as the real Shiv Sena victory of truth and people.
Raut said that the victory of the Congress in Karnataka has opened a door for the party in the whole country and the election results show that dictatorship has been defeated.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has begun preparations for polls to the cash-rich Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, as well as other major civic bodies including Pune and Thane, likely to be held later this year.
NCP chief spokesperson Mahesh Tapase told reporters that the party workers do not want Pawar to step down.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) on Tuesday claimed 22 MLAs and nine MPs from the rival Shiv Sena were feeling suffocated due to the "step-motherly treatment" by the Bharatiya Janata Party and could quit the group led by Maharashtra Chief minister Eknath Shinde.
Senior NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil has ruled out the possibility of a merger between the two factions of the Nationalist Congress Party, stating that talks ceased following the death of Ajit Pawar.
State-run bus services have been completely suspended in five Marathwada districts while curfew and Internet shut-down have been imposed in parts of Beed where the houses of political leaders were targeted by protesters.
Nagpur Guardian Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said social media was used to vitiate the atmosphere, and appealed to the opposition not to politicise the matter.
While at some places people who had turned up at polling booths early in the morning left without casting their vote after waiting in line for a long time, Sena-UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray alleged that the process was slowed down deliberately.
Targeting Aaditya Thackeray on Thursday, Bharatiya Janata Party minister Nitesh Rane said as per the Supreme Court's past decisions, if a person is facing allegations of rape, he must be arrested.
When asked about Prahar Janshakti Party leader Bachhu Kadu's hunger strike, Fadnavis said district guardian minister Chandrashekar Bawankule will speak to him.
Several opposition parties on Saturday slammed the BJP-led central government, calling it the India-Pakistan Asia Cup match an insult to the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack.
Nationalist Congress Party-SP chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday turned 84 and celebrated his birthday with members of his family and well-wishers, including estranged nephew and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.
The Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray on Saturday said Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar not favouring formation of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe allegations against the Adani group will not lead to cracks in opposition unity.
Amid a tug-of-war between Congress and the Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray over seat sharing in Maharashtra ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, Shiva Sena-UBT MP Sanjay Raut expressed confidence in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance, saying that the discussion on seat sharing is underway.
The Maharashtra municipal elections showed a troubling shift, where votes were traded for cash, convictions no longer mattered, and ideology became an afterthought, observes Ramesh Menon.
A BMC spokesperson said the average voter turnout stood at 29.96 per cent till 1.30 pm in the metropolis, which has more than 1 crore eligible electors.
Referring to Abdullah's comments, Saamana claimed that Congress actively contributed to AAP's defeat in at least 14 seats in Delhi, which could have been avoided.
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Thackeray said that the MNS will contest more seats than any other party.
Senior bureaucrat Smita Sabharwal courted controversy by questioning the need for reservation for the differently-abled people in the All India Services (AIS).
BJP leaders in Maharashtra criticized Uddhav and Raj Thackeray's joint rally in Mumbai, calling it a desperate attempt to revive their political fortunes ahead of civic polls. They accused the Thackerays of using the Marathi language issue as a guise to regain power and criticized their past actions.
Speaking at a "people's court" and holding a "mega press conference", Thackeray said his fight would decide whether democracy survives in the country.
The Mahayuti landslide in Maharashtra will leave the state assembly without a leader of opposition as no party outside the ruling alliance has been able to get the mandatory minimum 29 seats.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday said Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar is undeterred by the split in his party and can start afresh.
The claim evoked a sharp reaction from Fadnavis, current deputy chief minister in the Mahayuti government of BJP, Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde and Nationalist Congress Party led by Ajit Pawar, who said Thackeray has "lost his mind".
Despite Dharavi being located in the Mumbai North Central constituency and Mahalaxmi Racecourse in South Mumbai, the issues have caught the attention of all parties and their candidates.
'This daylight robbery of elections is happening in the commercial capital of India, Mumbai city, so you can imagine what they will do to win elections in the interiors of India.'
If Shinde does not accept the deputy CM's post, then some other leader from our party will get it. He (Shinde) will take a call on this by evening, said Shirsat, who retained his Aurangabad assembly West seat.
Sharad Pawar said everyone has a place in the "house".
