Police detained MNS leader Avinash Jadhav ahead of a rally planned in Thane to counter a protest staged by traders against the slapping of a food stall owner for not speaking in Marathi.
Uddhav Thackeray criticized BJP MP Nishikant Dubey for his controversial remarks amid the Marathi-Hindi language row, accusing him of trying to divide people and disturb harmony.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has plenty to smile about, after it swept the elections to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike or the Bengaluru Municipal Corporation which had remained dissolved for three years.
The ruling Congress party has emerged as the single largest party in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation by winning 52 of the 150 seats, results of which were announced on Thursday. However, the hopes of the Congress leaders of sweeping the elections and bagging two-third of the seats were dashed.
The Nationalist Congress Party on Thursday said its victory in the Navi Mumbai civic polls was significant as it managed to overcome the 90,000-vote deficit of the last year's Maharashtra assembly polls.
The first phase of the polls in the Kashmir Valley saw 8.3 per cent turnout on October 8 while only 3.4 per cent of the electorate exercised their franchise in the second phase held two days later.
The first municipal House after the high-stakes civic polls on December 4 is scheduled to take place on Friday during which all newly elected councillors will take oath and the mayor and the deputy mayor will be elected.
MNS chief Raj Thackeray alleges the state government's three-language formula is a precursor to separating Mumbai from Maharashtra, speaking at a rally with Uddhav Thackeray.
In a bold display of civic engagement, members of the Hindu American community launched an aerial banner over New York City this week, endorsing Andrew Cuomo for mayor and urging voters to support experienced, inclusive leadership in a high-stakes race that has captured national attention.
Senior Trinamool Congress MP Sougata Roy on Friday stirred the hornet's nest by saying that the party will not accept the use of violence and muscle power by its candidates during the upcoming civic polls in West Bengal.
For the first time in their lives, 186 Pakistani Hindu refugees in Delhi cast their votes in the Delhi Assembly polls, marking a significant moment in their journey towards citizenship. Having received Indian citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, they expressed hope for a better future with permanent homes and stable livelihoods. The refugees, who have lived in makeshift shelters and struggled with daily wage work for decades, felt a sense of belonging and empowerment after exercising their voting right.
An average 46.1 per cent voter turnout has been recorded in the elections to six municipal corporations in Gujarat, officials said on Monday.
In Mumbai, 2,275 candidates are in fray for the 227 seats.
Such meetings are routine, the former state home minister added.
Authorities in New Delhi are all geared up for the counting of votes polled in the Delhi municipal elections, with officials saying 42 centres have been set up for the Wednesday exercise which will begin at 8 am amid tight security.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday said whatever the people of Maharashtra wish will happen, comments coming amid intense speculation over possibility of an alliance between his party and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena led by his estranged cousin Raj.
Delhi's crime rate against women stood at 144.4 in 2022 -- the highest among all states and Union Territories.
Though the ruling Congress and Nationalist Congress Party have punctured the Opposition's plan to cash in on anti-incumbency, price rise and corruption, in the municipality poll results in Maharashtra, it is a wake-up call for the former. The Congress, which had emerged as the single largest party in the 2009 assembly elections and bagged 17 seats in the Lok Sabha elections held in the same year, failed to keep its tempo as its NCP partner won more seats.
Trouble deepened for the ruling Left Front in West Bengal as it lost the Siliguri municipality to the Trinamool Congress-Congress combine after 27 years. The Opposition alliance bagged 29 seats of the 47-member board, while one seat went to an independent candidate. The Left Front won 17 seats.
Uddhav and Raj Thackeray, estranged cousins and leaders of Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS respectively, will share a public stage after two decades to celebrate the Maharashtra government's decision to roll back the three-language policy in primary schools.
Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday dared the Bharatiya Janata Party to defeat it in the ensuing Mumbai civic polls, saying his party's bond with the city was unbreakable, and also hit out at Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde over his rebellion and for laying claims to his late father's legacy.
The mayor and deputy mayor of Delhi will be elected on Tuesday by the second municipal House after the December 4 civic polls.
Maharashtra recorded a voter turnout of 58.22 per cent till 5 pm on Wednesday in the elections to the 288-member state legislative assembly, with Gadchiroli district logging more than 69 per cent voting, poll officials said.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal said the matter will be heard as and when it is listed for hearing.
The first two sessions -- held on January 6 and January 24 -- were adjourned by the presiding officer without electing a mayor as the sessions were marred by ruckus and acrimonious exchanges among the members of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Aam Aadmi Party.
Taking exception to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's announcement of interest-free loans to farmers in the run-up to civic polls, Madhya Pradesh
Bandi Sanjay Kumar, who took oath as minister in the Narendra Modi cabinet on Sunday, weathered political storms and intra-party bickering before he could successfully establish himself as a firebrand BJP leader in Telangana.
The municipal House failed to elect a mayor on Monday after a ruckus erupted over the nominated members being allowed to vote in the election to the post.
Thackeray also drew a comparison between the current regime and Hitler.
"The opposition parties should draw proper lessons from these results and draw up plans to put up an effective united opposition to the BJP state-wise by marshalling all the forces," the CPI-M said in a statement.
A bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar granted liberty to the petitioner to serve the advance copy of the plea to the standing counsel for the respondents.
Civic polls in Mumbai are to take place in late March or early April.
November 14 was the last day for filing nominations for the high-stakes Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections for 250 wards.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) has shifted its focus back to Hindutva after suffering significant losses in the recent Maharashtra assembly elections. The party has been vocal about attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh and has taken a stance to "protect" a Hanuman Temple in Mumbai. Observers say this move is an attempt to regain its core voter base and counter the BJP's narrative on Hindutva, ahead of the upcoming civic polls. Analysts believe the party's "secular" stand may not be effective in the BMC elections and that its return to Hindutva is a sign of frustration from electoral setbacks.
Polling was held for over hundred civic bodies in Punjab on Sunday amid stray incidents of skirmishes at some places.
The municipal House is slated to begin at 11 am during which the election to the posts of mayor, deputy mayor and six members of the standing committee will be held.
Newly elected mayors will campaign for the party in poll-bound Gujarat.
Former MLA Harshwardhan Sapkal has been appointed as the new president of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC), tasked with reviving the party in the state after its crushing defeat in the last year's assembly polls. Sapkal, a veteran politician, replaces Nana Patole, who held the position since 2021. The Congress aims to rebuild its base and prepare for upcoming local body polls, including those in Mumbai, Pune, Thane, and Nagpur. The party will also need to work with its allies, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP), to strengthen the opposition against the ruling BJP-led alliance.
Here is a snapshot of what worked for the BJP and what worked against the AAP in the Delhi assembly elections.
