The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra has collected letters of support from more than 160 of its candidates and some independents, pledging their backing for the alliance in forming a government in the state if voted to power. The counting of votes for the elections to the 288-member legislative assembly held on November 20 began on Saturday. The letters of support collected from more than 160 candidates will be presented to the governor after declaration of results, sources said.
Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar president Sharad Pawar's remarks on Monday virtually declaring new entrant Harshavardhan Patil's candidature for the upcoming assembly polls in Maharashtra has irked a section of party leaders that was eyeing ticket from the Indapur seat.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief Uddhav Thackeray and Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar supremo Sharad Pawar on Saturday said there was no question of taking back those leaders who had deserted the two parties.
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.
The Nationalist Congress Party on Sunday turned down the Bharatiya Janata Party's offer to accommodate Praful Patel as a minister of state with independent charge in the new National Democratic Alliance government and said it was assured that 'remedial measures' would be taken.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Saturday dared Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar to intimidate his party without the help of the state apparatus, saying stones can come from "our side" too in an escalating war of words between the two leaders from Maharashtra.
The Maharashtra government has transferred Rs 17,505.90 crore into the bank accounts of 2.38 crore women beneficiaries under its Ladki Bahin Yojana till December 2024, in the first five months after the scheme was launched. The scheme, launched in August 2024, provides financial assistance of Rs 1,500 per month to eligible women. The objective of the scheme is to promote employment and economic development by providing adequate facilities to women and girls in the age group 21 to 65 years. The scheme aims to promote the empowerment of women and girls and improve the health and nutritional status of women and children dependent on them.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Tuesday resigned following allegations of an irrigation scam when he was state's water resource minister and said he was prepared for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe.
Zeeshan Siddique said his father lost his life protecting and saving the lives and homes of poor innocent people.
As the race for Maharashtra chief minister enters the last lap, Hemant Waje looks at several scenarios which can play out.
Only 19 out of 41 ministers in the erstwhile Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government in Maharashtra have vacated their official bungalows so far, whereas names of NCP stalwart Ajit Pawar and senior Congress leader Narayan Rane figure in the list of squatters, an RTI query has revealed.
The bench gave liberty to Sharad Pawar to move the poll panel for allocation of the party symbol and directed the poll panel to allot it in one week of the application.
The coming weeks are sure to have a lot of drama unfolding in Maharashtra, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
In a veiled warning to Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange who has announced a march to Mumbai, Ajit Pawar said nobody will be allowed to take law into his hands.
The checking of bags of leaders, a practice of the poll authorities to enforce the model code of conduct, came to the fore in the state's election campaign after Shiv Sena-UBT leader Uddhav Thackeray was subjected to it in Yavatmal.
Senior Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar was on Friday re-inducted as Maharashtra deputy chief minister after a government white paper on irrigation gave him a clean chit even as the Opposition Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party boycotted his swearing-in ceremony, terming his comeback as a "farce."
The meeting in New Delhi etc is just the BJP being nice to the man who helped it realise its dream by stabbing Uddhav in the back, notes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
On Thursday, Fadnavis wrote a letter to Ajit Pawar opposing NCP leader Nawab Malik sitting on a treasury bench seat.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah held discussions for seat sharing in Maharashtra for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections with coalition partners Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde and Nationalist Congress Party president Ajit Pawar.
In the coming assembly election, negotiations over seat-sharing will be as important as actual outreach to voters.
In an apparent dig at Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar on Tuesday said that at times those at the helm should see beyond their own "image" and not hesitate in "bypassing" rules in the interest of the common man.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Pune in Maharashtra on Thursday was cancelled following heavy rains in the city, sources said.
The Nationalist Congress Party on Saturday declared the candidature of Sunetra Pawar, wife of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, from Baramati Lok Sabha seat, pitting her against sister-in-law and Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule from the home turf of Pawars.
'If the Pawars are so powerful, then why are they scared of me?'
Fadnavis on Thursday asserted that Marathi is the language of Mumbai and Maharashtra and anyone who lives here should learn and speak it, after a Shiv Sena-UBT MLA pointed to comments of a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader.
The massive victory of Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti in Maharashtra indicates a tactical course correction post the Lok Sabha debacle, with factors like Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's active role in the poll campaign, Ladki Bahin scheme, rise in women voting, and subtle message of Hindutva playing a crucial role.
Shah said Shivaji Maharaj defeated "Mughal shahi" (rule of Mughals).
'I challenge Pawar Saheb (Sharad Pawar) to announce their face for the CM post'
As the verdict for the Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly elections is out, here is how some of the big faces fared in the contest.
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.
'If you stay out of power for long, you become irrelevant, your party members become restless and start looking to jump ship.'
'The message is loud and clear: "If you're not falling in line, we will open a line of understanding with the MNS, and then the Shiv Sena will be in trouble".'
Several Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders and corporators returned to the Sharad Pawar camp on Wednesday, a day after resigning from the Ajit Pawar faction.
Fadnavis also conceded that issues of coordination exist with the Shiv Sena and the NCP.
The message from Raut read 'Namaskar mi Sanjay Raut. Jai Maharashtra'.
The Sharad Pawar camp described the ruling as a "murder of democracy" which would be challenged in the Supreme Court.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Sunday took a veiled jibe at Nationalist Congress Party founder Sharad Pawar by alluding to his age and speaking about the 'sentimental appeal of a last election'.
'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.'
A court in Maharashtra has stayed the conviction of state minister Manikrao Kokate in a 1995 cheating and forgery case, citing the potential for "huge public money" to be spent on a re-election if he were to be disqualified. The court argued that voters had reposed faith in Kokate and elected him as their legislator, and that he would face an "irreversible situation" if disqualified. Kokate, a member of the ruling Nationalist Congress Party, was convicted in February and sentenced to two years in prison for submitting fake documents to obtain government housing. The court noted that Kokate has raised several arguable points in his appeal against the conviction and that a decision on the appeal will take time.
While the MNS had fielded 125 candidates, the VBA had 200 candidates in the fray.
