Nikam has replaced two-time MP Poonam Mahajan, who is the daughter of the late BJP stalwart Pramod Mahajan.
At the state level, Pawar appealed to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to convene an all-party meeting to discuss the quota dispute.
Campaigning continues for the final three phases of the Lok Sabha election.
While the responses of the candidates were predictable, depending on which side they belonged to, an interesting point slipped through when Rahul Shewale cited the Dharavi Redevelopment Project as a scheme that would add to Mumbai's importance. No big infrastructural project in Mumbai, he said, could be successful without the Centre's nod.
On his part, BJP Lok Sabha MP Narayan Rane, himself no stranger to controversies, got into damage control mode and sought to calm frayed nerves, saying he has chided his son over the remarks.
The Badlapur school, where two young girls were allegedly sexually abused, preferred to cover up the crime instead of helping their parents file a police complaint, said Susieben Shah, chairperson of Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, on Wednesday.
The Madhya Pradesh government on Thursday suspended six Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel including a station in-charge in connection with the beating of a woman and her grandson in Katni district.
Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole on Tuesday said his party did not 'surrender' but took a step back in the seat-sharing negotiations with its Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance partners as the talks could not go on indefinitely.
The new chief minister will be one of the most closely watched politicians in the country in these media-driven times.
'Unlike in the sporting arena, where sports federations moved from partisan to impartial referees, in Indian democracy's biggest festival, it appears we are moving backward from unbiased and objective to one-sided and partisan,' observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
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.
In the post on X, Mahajan said, "I will be indebted to the family-like people from Mumbai North Central who treated me not just as an MP but gave me affection like a daughter."
It's the season for glamorous Diwali parties, and after Manish Malhotra's fashionable bash, Varsha and Producer Ramesh Taurani threw a grand party at their residence.
In a letter to Kharge, Khan said he will not campaign for party candidates for the remaining phases of the Lok Sabha polls and is also resigning from the state Congress campaign committee.
The Bharatiya Janata Party suffered a setback in Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra on Tuesday, with its tally dwindling by less than half compared to 2019, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi of Congress, Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray and the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar was on a roll, pocketing 30 of the 48 seats.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati, and Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray were among the famous faces who queued up at the polling booths on Monday to caste their votes in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections.
Speculation is rife in political circles over the past few days that he is likely to join the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
Patanjali Yog Samiti Mumbai organized the 9th International Yoga day at Juhu beach bus depot in Mumbai.
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.
The multi-crore Dharavi slum redevelopment project involves no land transfer to the Adani group but to the Maharashtra government's departments, and the Ahmedabad-based conglomerate, as a project developer, will build houses that will be handed over to the same departments for allotment to residents of Asia's biggest slums, sources said. Denying allegations of land grab made by MP Varsha Gaikwad, sources close to the project said land parcels are to be transferred only to Dharavi Redevelopment Project/Slum Rehabilitation Authority (DRP/SRA) of the state government's housing department.
'The people preferred Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar...'
Addressing a gathering at Varsha, the official residence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in Mumbai, Deora said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have a vision for developing the country.
'Kasab was never given mutton biryani.' 'What I had said was Kasab had asked for mutton biryani to be served in jail.'
Independence Day was celebrated across states and Union territories on Thursday, as several chief ministers announced job schemes while some others vowed their support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of a Viksit Bharat by 2047.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Abhishek Ghosalkar was shot dead during a Facebook live by local social activist Mauris Noronha in Mumbai on Thursday, police said.
This will be the first major electoral test after the political realignment that emerged in 2019.
She will not leave the Shiv Sena and will continue to support Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray come what may, Varsha Raut said.
Despite Dharavi being located in the Mumbai North Central constituency and Mahalaxmi Racecourse in South Mumbai, the issues have caught the attention of all parties and their candidates.
While at some places people who had turned up at polling booths early in the morning left without casting their vote after waiting in line for a long time, Sena-UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray alleged that the process was slowed down deliberately.
Besides Defence Minister Singh (Lucknow), Minister of Women and Child Development Irani (Amethi), those in the fray are Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishor (Mohanlalganj) and Minister of State of Consumer Affairs Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti (Fatehpur).
The opposition's Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition in Maharashtra on Tuesday announced its seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections with the Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray securing a substantial portion with 21 seats, while the Congress will contest 17 seats, and the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar 10 seats.
Thackeray also condemned the collapse of a girder of an overbridge which was being constructed on a section of the Mumbai-Goa highway in Chiplun city on Monday.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Varsha Raut, wife of arrested Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, for questioning in a money laundering investigation linked to alleged irregularities in the redevelopment of a local 'chawl' and linked transactions, officials said on Thursday.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) of Uddhav Thackeray has denounced in the Supreme Court the "highly improper" meeting between Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and state legislative assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar, barely three days before the deadline set by the apex court for the latter to decide cross-petitions filed by rival Sena factions seeking disqualification of several of each other's MLAs.
Following is the schedule of Indian contingent on Day 7 of the Asian Games:
The development assumes significance as Congress' ally Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar group) had named Jitendra Awhad as the new LoP in the assembly following a split in the party due to Ajit Pawar's rebellion last month.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday said his party has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court objecting to a meeting between Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar before the crucial verdict on disqualification petitions against rival Sena MLAs, including the CM.
Enforcement Directorate officials on Sunday detained Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut in connection with the Patra Chawl land scam case in Mumbai after hours of conducting raids at his residence.
While political experts claim that the Modi Magic is missing in the 2024 general election, the common people in the street -- at least those in the crowd on Thursday -- vow that they will vote for Modi and the candidate who contests the election doesn't matter much.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued fresh summons to Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut asking him to appear on July 1 for questioning in a money laundering case linked to the re-development of a Mumbai 'chawl' and other related financial transactions involving his wife and friends, officials said.