Thackeray said people should be aware of how religious issues are raked up to distract their attention from core issues.
The poll panel will now examine whether the symbols are not the same or whether they are not being used by any other party.
He was not given any ministerial post when the Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi was in power (from November 2019 to June 2022) and was apparently sulking.
The delegation told Shinde that Samata Party was an old political outfit from Bihar and 'mashaal' (flaming torch) was its election symbol.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected the suggestion of the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena to decide the disqualification proceedings pending against Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and MLAs belonging to his camp, saying it cannot assume the role of the speaker as doing so will have "serious ramifications".
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.
The MLAs of the Uddhav Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena have filed a fresh plea in the Supreme Court challenging the disqualification proceedings initiated against them under the constitutional scheme and on Monday sought its hearing with other pending pleas on July 20.
Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Friday welcomed the Bombay high court's decision to allow his faction to hold its annual Dussehra rally at the iconic Shivaji Park ground in Mumbai, and said his party's faith in the judiciary stood vindicated.
The editorial in Saamana said the "Wagner group" has shown dictatorship can be challenged.
Thackeray, considered a soft-spoken man vis-a-vis his aggressive father, took oath as the 18th chief minister under the tripartite alliance in November 2019, the first in his family to hold a public office.
Gulabrao Patil said that they had not quit the party for power, but "left power while we were ministers."
"It is just that Fadnavis and I have swapped our chairs. Only Ajit Pawar's chair is fixed," said Shinde, who was the CM before the assembly elections with Fadnavis and Pawar as his deputies then.
MVA allies Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress on Thursday asserted that they will continue to support Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, whose party Shiv Sena is facing a rebellion in its legislative ranks, threatening the stability of his government.
A vacation bench headed by Justice Indira Banerjee said the fresh plea would be heard by the same bench after the summer break on July 11 along with other pending pleas.
In a major setback to party founder Sharad Pawar, the Election Commission of India also allotted the NCP symbol 'Wall Clock' to the group led by Ajit Pawar.
It will be interesting to see if Thackeray now succeeds in reviving the fortunes of his weakened party.
The ruling Eknath Shinde camp in Maharashtra told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that the rival side led by Uddhav Thackeray wanted the speaker of the state assembly to "usurp" the powers of the Election Commission when the ultimate test of majority in a democracy -- the floor test -- was ordered by the governor during the 2022 political crisis.
Shinde will consult the MLAs with him and then decide when to return to Mumbai, his associate said.
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".
As suspense over who will become the next Chief Minister of Maharashtra continues, Nationalist Congress Party leader Chhagan Bhujbal on Sunday backed his party's chief, Ajit Pawar, for the top post.
Even before the first votes are counted in Maharashtra, fissures have emerged within the ruling Mahayuti and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on who will head the next government. Both camps are claiming the chief minister's post, with constituents in both camps laying claim over the chief minister's post. The MVA, consisting of the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP), and the Mahayuti, comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP, have expressed confidence that their respective alliance will form the next government after votes are counted on Saturday. While a majority of exit polls have predicted that Mahayuti will retain power, a few have favored the MVA.
Pednekar claimed efforts are being made to ensure the Thackeray faction was not able to hold its annual rally on Dussehra, which will be celebrated on October 5.
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on Tuesday asserted that West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee should be allowed to lead the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).
'We know how to deal with the BJP if push comes to shove.'
Amid political turmoil in Maharashtra following a revolt by Shiv Sena minister Eknath Shinde, six members of legislative assembly (MLAs) and a member of legislative council (MLC) from the neighbouring state arrived in Gujarat's Surat city on Thursday and were later flown to Guwahati in Assam, where party rebels are camping, in two chartered flights, sources said.
Patil, a minister in the previous Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government, also said 12 MPs and 22 former MLAs of the party are supporting Shinde.
As the race for Maharashtra chief minister enters the last lap, Hemant Waje looks at several scenarios which can play out.
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.
In a virtual address to party corporators, he said the common Shiv Sena workers were his "wealth", and as long as they were with him, he did not care about criticism by others.
The Supreme Court will hear a batch of pleas on the Maharashtra political crisis filed by the Shiv Sena factions led by Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde on November 29, when it is likely to issue some directions.
In a fresh setback to Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, party spokesperson and former Mumbai corporator Sheetal Mhatre crossed over to the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde faction on Tuesday.
Independent MLAs might approach Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari very soon.
Sounding the bugle for Mumbai civic body polls, Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah on Monday asked party leaders and workers to inflict a 'deeper wound' on Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena on its home turf.
Keeping in mind the bitter backdrop in which the two Sena factions are likely to come face-to-face with each other on October 5, the Mumbai police, along with the Maharashtra administration, are leaving nothing to chance.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday said the Supreme Court's ruling on the political crisis that led to the fall of the three-party Maha Vikas Aaghadi government led by him following a revolt by the Eknath Shinde faction reinstates trust in democracy.
Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Monday sacked senior leader Ramdas Kadam and former MP Anandrao Adsul for indulging in 'anti-party' activities.
This will be the first major electoral test after the political realignment that emerged in 2019.
Shiv Sena president and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday reached out to the functionaries of his party, which is currently battling a rebellion, and sought to allay fears surrounding the survival of his political outfit and the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
'If the Maha Vikas Aghadi thinks that they have won 30 (Lok Sabha) seats and that would translate to winning 180 assembly seats they would be living in a fool's paradise.'
Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar MLA Rohit Pawar's mother Sunanda has emphasised the need for party factions led by veteran politician Sharad Pawar and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar to come together as voices for unity emerged from both rival camps.
