Maharashtra Minister Dhananjay Munde has denied any involvement in the murder of Beed sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, saying he is being targeted by the opposition and some leaders within the ruling alliance. He compared himself to Arjun from the Mahabharata, claiming he cannot be cornered like Abhimanyu. Munde also criticized the media trial and social media trolling he has faced since the murder.
While Fadnavis has admitted that the letter was sent to him in good faith, he said that he would have to discuss with the party leadership before taking a decision.
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.
The much-delayed election for ten seats was held on September 24 following a Bombay high court directive.
What some of our politicians were up to on Friday, October 18, 2024.
The Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party on Friday released its second list, comprising seven candidates including MLA Zeeshan Siddique and two former Bharatiya Janata Party MPs, for the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections.
Devendra Fadnavis, a seasoned politician with deep roots in the RSS, is set to become the Chief Minister of Maharashtra for the third time, after his party, the BJP, won a landslide victory in the state assembly elections. Fadnavis' political journey has been marked by resilience and strategic maneuvering, as he has navigated through challenging times, including political upheavals and controversies.
Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan has met auto-rickshaw driver Bhajan Singh Rana, who rushed him to hospital after he was injured in the knife attack at his home in Mumbai in the wee hours last week, and thanked him for the timely help.
The groups led by Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde on Monday expressed satisfaction after the Election Commission allotted them new names which mention 'Balasaheb' (Thackeray).
'If you stay out of power for long, you become irrelevant, your party members become restless and start looking to jump ship.'
Shiv Sena MLA Narendra Bhondekar has resigned from all party posts after expressing disappointment at not being included in the Maharashtra cabinet. Bhondekar, who was the Shiv Sena's deputy leader and co-ordinator for eastern Vidarbha districts, claimed his party head and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had promised him a cabinet berth. He said he intended to secure a cabinet post to become the guardian minister of Bhandara district, but he will now serve as an ordinary party worker.
However, speaking to Marathi news channel ABP Majha on Monday night, Shinde appeared pulling no punches.
Residents of a village in Maharashtra's Solapur district on Monday said they have planned a 'repoll' using ballots as the results of the recently-concluded assembly polls were 'doubtful' due to the presence of electronic voting machines (EVMs).
'Ajit Pawar is trying to sideline us; he is trying to be in the BJP's good books at our cost.'
"I also apologize if I have hurt anyone unintentionally," the official quoting Thackeray as saying.
At least 51 people were arrested, and three cases registered so far in connection with the violent protests that broke out in Maharashtra's Parbhani city over vandalising of a replica of the Constitution, police said on Friday.
It will be interesting to see if Thackeray now succeeds in reviving the fortunes of his weakened party.
In signs of friction in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) over the chief minister's post, Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Sanjay Raut on Friday said ally Congress should understand his party's contribution in increasing the grand old party's tally in the Lok Sabha polls.
The ruling BJP-led Mahayuti alliance appeared set to retain power in Maharashtra, and was leading in 214 of the 288 assembly seats, as per the latest figures by the Election Commission.
Thackeray said he has to undergo a surgery on June 1 and after recovering from it, he would again address a public meeting.
They slammed the Union and state governments for the collapse, with Uddhav Thackeray calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi's apology as one "smacking of arrogance", while Sharad Pawar said the episode was an example of corruption.
Loudspeakers will be removed from masjids, Bal Thackeray said in the old clip.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday assured his government will continue the Ladki Bahin Yojana and fulfil Mahayuti's pre-poll promise of hiking the monthly stipend under the scheme to Rs 2,100 from Rs 1,500 now to eligible women.
The MNS, which has one MLA, had backed the Bharatiya Janata Party in the last month's elections to the Rajya Sabha as well as state Legislative Council seats.
The Bombay high court on Friday upheld the tender awarded to an Adani Group firm by the Maharashtra government for the Dharavi slum redevelopment project in Mumbai, ruling there was no 'arbitrariness, unreasonableness or perversity' in the decision.
Maha Vikas Aghadi constituents -- the Congress, the Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray, and the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar -- are still struggling to resolve internal differences over certain seats and fix an agreeable formula for the assembly polls even though the deadline for filing nominations is closing on October 29.
Was it Uddhav's back-seat driving of Shinde's ministry Did Shinde feel slighted by Aaditya Thackeray's rapid ascent in the Shiv Sena? Was his spat with Sanjay Raut on Monday the last straw?
Polling for the 288 seats of the Maharashtra assembly will take place on Wednesday, November 20, 2024.
Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, the Shankaracharya of the Jyotish Peeth in Uttarakhand, who turned down the invitation to the Ram temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya, on Monday said Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Uddhav Thackeray is a victim of betrayal.
Now, the state has an unprecedented situation where there are six major political players with three on each side.
The delay in finalising a seat allocation agreement among the Maha Vikas Aghadi allies for the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections has ignited concerns among smaller constituents as the nomination process commenced on Tuesday.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday demanded that Chief Justice India D Y Chandrachud recuse himself from the cases tied to the disqualification petitions concerning rebel Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party MLAs.
The end of the process to withdraw nominations for Maharashtra assembly polls on Monday left the Congress in despair in Kolhapur North seat after its candidate Madhurima Raje Chhatrapati withdrew, while the Bharatiya Janata Party managed to convince Gopal Shetty to opt out from Mumbai's Borivali.
In a letter to Raosaheb Danve, chairman of the party's state election campaign committee, the former Mumbai MP termed the treatment given to him as 'insulting'.
This will be the 49-year-old JMM leader's fourth stint as chief minister. Soren retained the Barhait seat, defeating BJP's Gamliyel Hembrom by a margin of 39,791 votes in the recent assembly polls.
Thousands of people gathered in Maharashtra's Beed city on Saturday to protest against the brutal murder of Massajog sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh as even MLAs from ruling parties demanded the sacking of Nationalist Congress Party minister Dhananjay Munde.
The video shows a person coming into the frame and Danve kicking him with his right leg, asking him to move aside.
'I have never seen such chaos and cheating in Maharashtra politics. No one knows who is with whom, who is forming government'
An accidental encounter between Maharashtra deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief Uddhav Thackeray in a lift in Vidhan Bhawan on Thursday caused ripples in state political circles.
He said the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi was studying the poll results and "technicalities" behind them.