Voters, it is said, get the government they deserve. We will soon see what voters in Maharashtra choose. Till then, a sense of helplessness and scepticism hangs in the air, notes Ramesh Menon.
It isn't easy for a girl from Gopal Nagar to chase a dream. But Pinky was extremely determined. A force unto herself, she was going to go places. Literally. Till it abruptly ended one morning on the tarmac at Baramati airport.
The respect for the four-time former chief minister, often referred to as Saheb, in his stronghold of western Maharashtra is palpable in much of the region. But his estranged nephew also appears to enjoy a stature of his own in Baramati, a constituency represented by the senior Pawar for six terms before he passed the baton to Ajit Pawar in 1991.
Addressing a press conference in Satara, Sharad Pawar also said he has launched a statewide tour to strengthen the NCP and boost the confidence of party workers, unfazed by actions of a few leaders.
Twelve newly-elected councillors in the Ambernath Municipal Council, suspended by the Congress for joining a post-poll front led by the BJP, have formally joined the saffron party. The Congress criticized the BJP, highlighting the hypocrisy of welcoming defectors despite the Chief Minister's disapproval of the alliance.
Maharashtra minister Manikrao Kokate was shifted from the agriculture ministry to the sports and youth welfare department in a late-night reshuffle. Dattatrey Bharne will be the new agriculture minister. The reshuffle comes after Kokate faced controversy for playing online rummy during a legislative council session and allegedly equating farmers with beggars.
Speaking to reporters in Maharashtra's Pune city, Rohit Pawar said he is firmly with NCP chief Sharad Pawar.
The Uddhav faction was shocked to see Pawar felicitate Shinde with an award.
Political sources say Modi is 'keen' on getting the NCP (SP) over to the Mahayuti to counter Eknath Shinde's 'demands' and to act as a cushion against his present allies, Nitish Kumar and N Chandrababu Naidu, 'in case their relationship became untenable'.
Ajit Pawar asked in his speech at his faction's meeting when would Sharad Pawar, who is 82 years old, "going to stop".
Amid the relentless clamour by the Opposition for Ajit Pawar's resignation over his controversial remark on drought, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday said the matter should have ended with an apology by the Maharashtra deputy chief minister. "The matter should have ended with the apology," Pawar told reporters.
Shiv Sena's Dadaji Bhuse is the new school education minister while Uday Samant continues to be the industries minister.
'It would have polarised the Marathi-non Marathi divide further. 'Fadnavis had a very clear strategy: Let all Marathi people campaign for us (the BJP), and whatever results we get will be delivered by Marathi people only.'
The Sharad Pawar faction quoted lines from a popular poem 'Tutari' written by Jnanpith awardee Kusumagraj.
'If you stay out of power for long, you become irrelevant, your party members become restless and start looking to jump ship.'
Amid opposition call for his resignation over the Beed sarpanch murder case, Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde on Wednesday said he is ready to quit if asked by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis or deputy CM Ajit Pawar.
As the campaign for the Lok Sabha elections gathers momentum, Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray, the leaders of two prominent regional parties in Maharashtra, are fighting a battle for political survival.
In his lifetime, it was his prerogative to decide who should use his photograph, he said.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Friday declined NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) president Sharad Pawar's invite for a meal at his residence in Baramati in Pune district on Saturday, citing a hectic schedule.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has nominated corporator Ritu Tawade for the Mumbai mayor election, while its ally Shiv Sena declared Sanjay Ghadi as its candidate for the deputy mayor's post.
Raut claimed Sharad Pawar recently told Uddhav Thackeray that his party will never join hands with the BJP.
The Devendra Fadnavis-Ajit Pawar government formed in a hush-hush ceremony in November 2019 after the state assembly elections had lasted for three days.
The Congress leader was Union Home Minister from 2004 to 2008 and the 10th Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 1991 to 1996. He was the Governor of Punjab and also served as Administrator of the Union Territory of Chandigarh from 2010 to 2015.
Upset over being denied tickets by the Bharatiya Janata Party despite being its 'loyal workers for years', several aspirants have rebelled against the party and are now contesting the upcoming elections to the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) as independent candidates.
Nationalist Congress Party spokesperson Suraj Chavan on Sunday took objection to Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Suresh Dhas targeting Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar over the probe into the murder of a sarpanch in Beed district.
The luncheon meeting was held at the INS Angre auditorium, a state government official said.
Maharashtra is set to hold local body elections on December 2 for municipal councils and nagar panchayats. The polls are seen as a test of the ruling coalition's strength after their recent assembly election victory.
'If all of us (all the 57 Shiv Sena MLAs) stand together we can change the dynamic. We are not afraid of anyone.'
NCP leader Zeeshan Siddique alleges a 'casual' approach by Mumbai police in the investigation into his father, Baba Siddique's, murder. He cites procedural delays and reluctance to take decisive action.
Pawar made the announcement at the 25th anniversary of the party, founded by him and P A Sangma in 1999.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday said the results of the assembly elections were historic, and they decided to whom the Nationalist Congress Party and Shiv Sena belong.
Bhujbal took a veiled attack at Sharad Pawar for the opposition's boycott of an all-party meeting on the Maratha quota issue.
Ajit Pawar's resignation from the post of the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra has brought to the fore the widening rift between him and Sharad Pawar, writes Sanjay Jog.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has directed officials to declare leopard attacks on humans as a "state disaster" and proposed reclassification of leopards under the Wild Life (Protection) Act to better manage man-eating animals. The decision follows a rise in leopard attacks in the state, particularly in the Pune district.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday paid floral tributes at the city police headquarters to those who made the ultimate sacrifice while fighting terrorists during the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
Sharad Pawar expressed surprise over the PM taking a "different stand" now.
The Nationalist Congress Party is livid as Shivtare continues to criticise Pawar, whose wife Sunetra is likely to contest from the Baramati Lok Sabha seat, even after meeting Shinde in Mumbai recently.
On Friday, Ajit caused a flutter in the party when he sent his resignation as the MLA from Baramati segment to Legislative Assembly Speaker Haribhau Bagade, which has been accepted.
The crisis in Maharashtra government after Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's resignation is expected to draw to a close with the intervention of Union Agriculture Minister and NCP president Sharad Pawar on Friday.
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.
