Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday laid the foundation stone of a grand memorial to Babasaheb Ambedkar at the Indu Mills compound in the heart of Mumbai, a function boycotted by Shiv Sena after its chief Uddhav Thackeray was not invited.
Pawar said no one gave such a proposal to the Nationalist Congress Party.
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.
Shinde, an MLA from neighbouring Thane, was the leader of house in the previous term as well, besides being a cabinet minister in the BJP-Sena government.
Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata P president Sudhir Mungantiwar said on Wednesday that the 25-year-old alliance with Shiv Sena would not be snapped although Bal Thackeray's party had extended support to Pranab Mukherjee for presidential polls.
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.
A Shiv Sena worker was murdered in Nanded, marking the fifth such incident in the city in three days, raising concerns about escalating violence.
Shiv Sena Chief Bal Thackeray has equated nephew Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena with a carbon copy of the outfit he founded in 1966.
In a letter to Shinde, who was sworn in as Maharashtra Chief Minister a day earlier, Thackeray accused him of "indulging in anti-party activities".
Taking the Shiv Sena and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena head-on, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Sunday said that it has asked its volunteers to protect north Indians in Maharashtra and prevent the spread of anti-Hindi feelings. "The Sangh Parivar has asked its volunteers in Maharashtra to try and prevent the spread of anti-north Indian and anti-Hindi feelings," said RSS leader Ram Madhav.He said the RSS was opposed to discrimination on the basis of language.
Maharashtra's Shiv Sena minister Sanjay Shirsat sparked a political storm with his controversial comments regarding a fatal tree fall incident in Mumbai, which killed an 11-year-old boy and injured four others, initially suggesting such incidents are 'not in human hands' before clarifying his stance.
Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has asked state Director General of Police (DGP) Rajnish Seth to provide adequate police protection to the families and homes of rebel MLAs, a police official said on Sunday.
The Shiv Sena, the party that champions the cause of Maharashtrians, has turned this year's stock market boom, which saw the Sensex rise some 700 points, into a political opportunity.
Shiv Sena's alliance partner, the Republican Party on Wednesday extended its support to the saffron party on renaming Shivaji Park as 'Shiv Tirth'.
The incident took place outside a temple in the city where Suri and some other leaders of the party were holding a protest, they said.
Maharashtra Congress on Tuesday branded deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar a "gungi gudiya" (mute doll), drawing a sharp rebuttal from the Nationalist Congress Party, which asked if the Opposition party now endorses the infamous slur once hurled at former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
She was unhappy at the reinstatement of some party workers in Uttar Pradesh who had "misbehaved" and "threatened" her during her press conference in Mathura a few days ago.
The party's executive president Uddhav Thackeray made this clear on the opening day of the two-day conclave of Sena office-bearers in Aurangabad.
Congress party sources claimed the three, "...are scheduled to join the party on Friday."
The simmering tension between Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party came to a boil on Sunday as Sena MP Anil Desai failed to take oath as union minister amid talk that Uddhav Thackeray will pull the party out of the government at the Centre and play opposition in Maharashtra.
Raut, the Executive Editor of Sena mouthpiece Saamana, was arrested from his residence at suburban Bhandup after the Centre directed the state government to deal sternly with those involved in the attack, sources said. Around 500 Shiv Sena workers had vandalised the lobby and kitchen of Lalit Group's Intercontinental Hotel to protest against sacking of 21 employees by the management on January 21.
Pakistani ghazal singer Ghulam Ali's concert in the city on Friday was on Wednesday cancelled after Shiv Sena threatened to disrupt it.
He is learnt to have discussed the formulation of a joint opposition strategy on the issue of Lakhimpur Kheri violence and the detention of prominent leaders including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Hours after the Bharatiya Janata Party gave it an ultimatum to take a final call on the seat-sharing pact for the Maharashtra assembly elections, Shiv Sena said on Thursday night that it would not be dictated by anybody.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Election Commission to go ahead with the hearing of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde group's plea seeking recognition as the real Shiv Sena and allocation of the party's bow-and-arrow poll symbol to it.
With most exit polls projecting Bharatiya Janata Party's emergence as the single-largest party in Maharashtra but falling short of a majority, the Shiv Sena hinted at a possible reconciliation with its former saffron ally, saying there should be "no bitterness any more".
Most Shiv Sena ministers in Maharashtra's BJP-led government were absent from a cabinet meeting, signaling tensions over defections between the parties. Only Deputy CM Eknath Shinde attended. Sena ministers later met with the Chief Minister to express their displeasure.
Senior Shiv Sena leader and former minister Pramod Navalkar died on Tuesday following a heart attack, party sources said.
Raj Thackeray meets Bal Thackeray in what looks like an attempt to smooth out the recent crisis in the party.
After five decades of existence, the Shiv Sena's support base seems to be shifting towards the rural electorate but there it has to contend with the network of Sharad Pawar and the BJP.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray criticizes Devendra Fadnavis, accusing him of being a 'helpless' chief minister unable to tackle corruption. He also attacks the BJP for divisive politics and failing to address key issues.
Sena leader Sanjay Raut said he will meet Mukherjee next week, insisting he has proved to be "best President" and that nobody can doubt his capabilities.
We stand by our decision to oppose the proposed car shed at Aarey Colony, said Uddhav.
Unfazed by Shiv Sena's attack on him, Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan had a dig at the party and stuck to his stand of pitching for inclusion of Pakistani cricketers in Indian Premier League.
Opposition parties in India are demanding the impeachment and arrest of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, alleging he is running the poll panel as a 'one-man autocracy' following revelations that two Election Commissioners red-flagged issues related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
In a surprising turn of events, BJP corporator Sangeeta Khandekar was elected as the mayor of Chandrapur Municipal Corporation with the support of Shiv Sena (UBT), dealing a blow to the Congress party's aspirations.
He said he will not join any political party.
Mohan Rawale, a five-time former MP from Mumbai south central, was expelled from the Shiv Sena on Monday, days after his meeting with Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, in an apparent clamp down on dissidence.
Banerjee, on a visit to Maharashtra, was scheduled to meet Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray earlier, but as he is unwell, she met his son and minister Aaditya Thackeray, sources said.
