This was not Sharad Pawar or Prithviraj Chavan speaking. It was Uddhav Thackeray, the undisputed chief of the Shiv Sena!
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.
Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday said senior Nationalist Congress Party leader Chhagan Bhujbal would have become the chief minister of Maharashtra had he not quit the Sena.
The ruling Shiv Sena on Wednesday announced the candidature of Sachin Ahir and Aamshya Padvi for the upcoming Maharashtra legislative council polls as it decided against renominating senior leader and state minister Subhash Desai and another party veteran Diwakar Raote for the election to the upper house of the state legislature.
Party chief Uddhav Thackeray, Yuva Sena leader Aditya Thackeray and former CM Manohar Joshi, among others, paid tributes.
'Modi had exuded confidence that we will win this battle against COVID-19 in 21 days. But it has been over 100 days and the coronavirus still persists and those fighting it have become tired'
Opposition parties are demanding the resignation of Maharashtra State Women's Commission chairperson Rupali Chakankar due to her alleged connections with a self-proclaimed numerologist, Ashok Kharat, who has been arrested for rape and exploitation.
Ahead of the Mumbai municipal election on January 15, Shiv Sena-UBT leader Aditya Uddhav Thackeray launched a blistering attack on his political rivals in a hard-hitting interview with Rediff.
The strategic move will also bolster the BJP's push to decimate Uddhav Thakceray-led party by depriving it of its pet Hindutva and ethnic sub-nationalism plank.
A team of tax department officials is undertaking the raids against Jadhav, also the chairman of the BMC standing committee, since early morning, they said.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar also ruled out any alliance with the Sena.
Opposition parties have submitted a fresh notice in the Rajya Sabha seeking a motion for the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, citing concerns over the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct.
'If we have to join the government we will have to first decide upon the CMP.' 'Nothing can be decided without having a CMP first.'
'Imagine, for the last 12 years the prime minister belongs to the BJP, the home minister belongs to the BJP... If that is the case, you have waited for 12 years to remove infiltrators. Which means you and your central government has failed India on stopping infiltration.' The Rediff Podcast Featuring Shiv Sena-UBT leader Aditya Thackeray.
'I don't think there will be many problems after the assembly election results.'
AIMIM leader Imtiaz Jaleel supports colleague Sahar Shaikh's controversial statement about turning Mumbra green, claiming the party intends to do the same across Maharashtra. This follows Shaikh's victory in Thane civic polls and subsequent backlash over her remarks.
The Indian government has dismissed the US Commission on International Religious Freedom's (USCIRF) report on religious freedom in India, stating that it does not recognise the commission's authority to comment on the rights of Indian citizens.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction on Tuesday claimed the Bharatiya Jantea Party candidate Murji Patel withdrew from the Andheri East Assembly bypoll contest after realising that his defeat was imminent.
'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'
Breaking the nearly three-decade-old dominance of the undivided Shiv Sena, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday emerged as the single largest party in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, and also triumphed in Pune, where it made mincemeat of the alliance of Nationalist Congress Party factions led by Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar.
The Election Commission is learnt to have given the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena 15 more days to submit documents in support of its claim on the party's election symbol.
Two MBA students died due to suspected drug overdose after attending a concert in Mumbai, leading to arrests and political backlash.
The death of a close associate of jailed godman Ashok Kharat in a car accident has prompted suspicion from opposition leaders, who question whether the incident was orchestrated to suppress facts in the probe against Kharat.
The Supreme Court said on Thursday that once a government is democratically elected in accordance with law, there is a presumption that it enjoys the confidence of the house and there must exist some objective material to dislodge this presumption.
'We formed the government without the Shiv Sena and it will remain stable.'
Seven candidates are in the fray for six Upper House seats from Maharashtra that will go to polls.
A newly-elected AIMIM corporator's victory speech, vowing to 'paint Mumbra green,' has sparked controversy, with rivals questioning its religious overtones. The corporator has since clarified her remarks.
Even though MLAs are required to show their ballot to respective party whips before casting their vote, all parties have ensured their MLAs are housed in five star hotels closer to the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha where voting will take place on June 10.
A hospital in Thane, India, has been found operating an unauthorised IVF centre, leading to its closure and a city-wide inspection of all IVF and sonography facilities.
Opposing the demand for a separate state of Vidarbha, Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray on Friday said Maharashtra should get Marathi-speaking areas of Belgaum and adjoining areas in Karnataka. "The government should remove the injustice done to Maharashtra by giving it Belgaum-Karwar areas where the Marathi-speaking populace is being oppressed," Uddhav said in a statement. "As long as the Shiv Sena is there, no one will be allowed to divide Maharashtra," he said
After former Shiv Sena MP Pradeep Jaiswal, ex-MLA of BJP from Latur, Shivaji Patil Kavekar, has resigned from the party with his supporters. Similar revolts had been reported from Nanded, Beed and Hingoli districts also.
Security arrangements were on Monday tightened in the luxury hotel near Guwahati where rebel Maharashtra MLAs led by Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde are camping as advocates, senior police and government officials were seen entering there.
Shiv Sena is confident that Prime Minister Narendra Modi won't join hands with a "Naturally Corrupt Party". Prasanna D Zore reports
This is for the first time that the Thackeray family has lost control of the party that was founded in 1966 by Balasaheb Thackeray on the principles of justice for the sons of the soil.
Maharashtra Deputy CM Eknath Shinde launched a veiled attack on Uddhav Thackeray, invoking characters from a film to criticize Thackeray's leadership and policies ahead of upcoming municipal elections. Shinde highlighted government initiatives and defended his position, while also criticizing the opposition's performance.
After Uddhav Thackeray hit out at All-India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, his party Shiv Sena on Tuesday stepped up attack on the Hyderabad-based outfit, accusing it of poisoning the minds of minority community and demanded that Maharashtra government take strict action against it.
The Shiv Sena on Sunday claimed that its activists will hold protests at Jaipur and Mohali and not allow the Pakistani cricket team to play in the ongoing Champions Trophy.
Opposition leaders have criticised the alliance between AIMIM and a suspended TMC MLA for the West Bengal Assembly elections, fearing it will divide votes and weaken secular parties.
Pawar said no one gave such a proposal to the Nationalist Congress Party.
A Shiv Sena 'shakha' (area office) in Dombivali in Thane district, Maharashtra, which was at the centre of a dispute between the Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde factions of the party, has been taken over by functionaries of the latter after payment of pending dues to the landowner.