Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief Uddhav Thackeray has again asked Union minister Nitin Gadkari to leave the Bharatiya Janata Party if he is being 'insulted', saying the opposition in Maharashtra would ensure his victory in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Even as the two parties appeared confident that they have reached out to every voter and publicised their new symbols, experts suggested varying impact of the split and the symbols on the vote bank.
'Slogans like 'Ek hai toh safe hai' and 'Batenge toh katenge' resonated with voters.'
Violence erupted in the central Maharashtra city of Parbhani after a replica of the Constitution was vandalized. Around 50 people have been detained for the protests, while a man with mental health issues has been arrested for allegedly damaging the replica. Opposition leaders condemned the incident, calling for strict action against those responsible. The situation is under control, but tensions remain high in the city.
The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi on Sunday released its manifesto for the Maharashtra assembly polls, promising free cervical cancer vaccines for girls aged 9 to 16 and and two optional leave days for women employees during menstruation.
NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar has alleged misuse of power and money to control the election mechanism in Maharashtra, calling for a mass revolt. He cites claims of EVM manipulation by the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and says that the situation was unprecedented, with money and power used to control the entire election process. Pawar also expressed concerns about the suppression of opposition voices in Parliament and the lack of response to concerns about EVM manipulation.
Lok Sabha polls held over 5 phases so why hold assembly elections in single phase, asks Oppn.
'If someone fiddles us on our religion then we will pay back five times more to that person. We have proved that time and again.'
The speaker's order was pre-decided, it further claimed, adding that there was nothing to be shocked about it.
Former Union minister Sharad Pawar on Monday said that he and nephew Ajit Pawar are together as a family, but made it clear that the latter was heading a different political party.
Taking note of complaints of indiscipline and anti-party statements, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge approved Nirupam's expulsion from the party for six years with immediate effect, an official communication from the party said.
They say we became 'Congresswasi'. We didn't become 'Bhajapawasi' even after spending 30 years with the BJP. Then how can we become 'Congresswasi'?
'BJP's last resort to win the election is to divide people into caste, religion, creed. but it doesn't happen in Maharashtra.'
While the pilot suffered injuries, the helicopter's rotor blades got damaged in the incident.
Senior bureaucrat Smita Sabharwal courted controversy by questioning the need for reservation for the differently-abled people in the All India Services (AIS).
Here are the number of seats won by parties in all states and Union Territories in the Lok Sabha elections.
All eyes are now on the Sena factions, led by CM Shinde, backed by the BJP, and his predecessor Uddhav Thackeray, and their performance in the coastal belt in the November 20 polls.
Thakur College of Science and Commerce, post the controversy, said the event aimed to encourage students, particularly first time voters, to participate in the upcoming general elections but added "the matter", possibly a reference to students being forced to attend, was "under review".
The election campaign was one of the most vitriolic in the state, but you would not have guessed it from the smiles and selfies from the politicians.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday said the Bharatiya Janata Party still wants to throw its weight behind Maharashtra Navnirman Sena head Raj Thackeray's son Amit Thackeray in Mahim assembly seat, which the ruling Shiv Sena is also contesting.
The MNS joining the BJP-led alliance in Maharashtra could help it with a 'Thackeray versus Thackeray' narrative, fielding Raj Thackeray, an articulate speaker, to take on his cousin Uddhav Thackeray.
A product of the 1942 Quit India movement, a Gandhian and a Socialist who remains closely connected with grassroot movements, Dr G G Parikh remains a familiar figure in Maharashtra.
Two days after being sworn in as Maharashtra Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday took oath as an MLA along with deputy CMs Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi boycotted the ceremony alleging EVM misuse.
The Centre on Wednesday accorded Z plus -- the highest category of armed VIP security cover -- to Pawar, official sources had said.
Sindhudurg police in Maharashtra has formed seven teams to track down sculptor Jaydeep Apte who executed the contract to make the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj that collapsed on Rajkot fort last month, an official said on Wednesday.
An alleged attack on a Marathi-speaking family by a government employee in Thane district sparked outrage in the Maharashtra Assembly, where the BJP-led government assured justice and condemned the incident. Opposition parties demanded immediate action against the accused, Akhilesh Shukla, and his wife, who have been arrested. The incident has raised concerns about discrimination against Marathi people and fueled tensions in the state.
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.
Ahead of the crucial legislature party meeting scheduled for Wednesday, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Devendra Fadnavis met with caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday, the first in-person meeting since their discussions in Delhi last week for government formation.
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.
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 firing took place outside his MLA son Zeeshan Siddiqui's office.
'Crores of rupees have been spent on paper but nothing has actually happened on the ground.'
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.
There is no action against the "BJP-linked" school management but an arrested accused is shot dead in suspicious circumstances, he said, adding "we have no trust in Badlapur police".
"If the Union government can send probe (agency) officials to the houses of (former Jharkhand CM) Soren and (Delhi CM) Kejriwal,?"
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.
Waikar is a former standing committee chairman of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, a four time corporator and has been MLA from Jogeshwari for four terms.
The principal opposition party though appeared content securing 99 of the 543 seats in the 2024 national elections as against its all-time low of 44 in 2014 and then 52 in 2019.
Election fever has reached its peak in Baramati in the last phase of the campaign for the Maharashtra assembly polls with the rival Nationalist Congress Party factions led by Ajit Pawar and his uncle Sharad Pawar leaving no stone unturned.
He did not divulge any further information on what is going to be an intricate issue and hard bargaining.
