Contesting the Kalyan-Dombivli civic polls for the first time, the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena emerged triumphant, getting 26 seats in the 107-member House which saw a fractured verdict
Congress sources in New Delhi say the race is narrowing down between Deshmukh and Chavan with latter having an edge.
Polling for the 288-member Maharashtra assembly was continuing in brisk pace in Mumbai on Tuesday. 20 per cent polling had already been completed in the state till noon.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has alleged that the ruling Congress-Nationalist Congress Party alliance has failed to develop Maharashtra in the last 10 years despite some key Central ministers hailing from the state.
Even as the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party coalition government in Maharashtra is drawing flak over the rising cases of farmers' suicides, United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday promised crop loans at three per cent interest rate to overcome the agrarian crisis.Addressing her first election rally in the Vidarbha region, which has been rattled by a series of suicides by debt-ridden farmers, the Congress president tried to woo the farmers.
Within a gap of seven hours, two high-profile but diametrically opposite campaigns in this city set the tone for the coming Maharashtra Assembly elections. While Congress President Sonia Gandhi pitched for an inclusive growth with greater emphasis on poorer and backward section, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray's high-decibel slogans catered only for the 'Marathi issue'.
Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary Gopinath Munde on Thursday said rebellion in the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party alliance might work in favour of the saffron combine.
Ending the decade long Congress-Nationalist Congress party 'misrule' is more important than pursuing personal ambitions like becoming the chief minister, Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray has said. Thackeray, 49, was responding to a question on whether he was the Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party's choice for chief minister if the saffron combine comes back to power.He said the saffron alliance will review several 'anti-people' decisions of the Congress-NCP coalition.
Amid the coronavirus outbreak, various states have announced partial or complete lockdown and also there is increased focus on social distancing to curb the spread of the deadly virus which has infected over 400 people in the country.
Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo and former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav has criticised the Maharashtra government's recent decision to grant taxi permits to only those drivers who are well versed in Marathi and have resided in the state for at least 15 years. Most taxi drivers in Mumbai are migrants from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.Lalu alleged that the ruling Congress-Nationalist Congress Party combine was 'going the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's way".
Ten days after it came back to power, the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party alliance struggled to form a government in Maharashtra after another round of planned portfolio-sharing talks between the two parties on Sunday night failed to take place in Mumbai.
Being the single largest party after the ruling Congress-Nationalist Congress Party alliance, the Bharatiya Janata Party is projecting senior leader Eknath Khadse for the post of Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra assembly, though its ally Shiv Sena is in no mood to part with it. Sena Executive President Uddhav Thackeray's statement -- "numbers won't determine who gets to hold the post"-- seems to have no impact on the BJP, which is projecting Khadse for the post.
A meeting of the newly elected Congress Members of Legislative Assembly in Maharashtra on Saturday authorised party president Sonia Gandhi to nominate their new leader, who will be the next chief minister. A one-line resolution, authorising Sonia Gandhi to name the new leader, was passed at the first meeting of the Congress Legislature Party, convened in Mumbai to elect the leader, two days after the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party combine stormed back to power.
'The consolidation of the Congress and NCP alliance does not provide any space for such splits,' feels Dr Rajeshwari Deshpande, a scholar on Maharashtra politics.
Of the 269 results declared so far, the ruling combine has bagged 131, the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance 87, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena 13, Republican Left Democratic Front 12 and others 26.
The Congress on Thursday emerged victorious in the assembly elections held in the three states of Maharashtra, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh.In Maharashtra, the Congress is set to retain power for a third consecutive term. It also swept Arunachal Pradesh and managed to get a slender victory in Haryana.
However, incumbent Chief Minster Ashok Chavan said the Congress-NCP alliance will be looking at the Republican Party of India for possible outside support if it fell short of the majority mark.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal on Thursday said the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party alliance will secure the 'magic figure' to form the state government. "We will get the magic figure to form the government. There may be a difference of two-three seats, but with 21 rebels leading in the state, it's not difficult to achieve the majority," Bhujbal told reporters.
In its internal assessment, the Congress hopes to get around 91 seats, while it expects the NCP to get 49 to 51 seats. The coalition will need at least 145 MLAs for a simple majority to form the government in the 288-seat Maharashtra Assembly. The coalition is confident that it will manage some independent MLAs and small parties to keep its government afloat.
In an attack on the Shiv Sena, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Raj Thackeray has alleged that the party was more interested in 'Marathi votes' rather than the 'Marathi manoos'. Addressing an election rally in Pune on Tuesday night, Thackeray said the Shiv Sena had stopped fighting for the rights of Marathi man and it was the MNS which had taken up the cudgels to fight injustice, to which the 'Bhoomiputras' were subjected to.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan on Friday said the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party combine stands a good chance of returning to power after the October 13 assembly elections as the Opposition in the state was in a state of complete disarray. "We are going to people again on our performance. But, at the same time, we will also benefit because the opposition camp is in disarray," Chavan said.
Shiv Sena Executive President Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday appealed to the voters not to fell prey to the assurances of Maharashtra's Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government as it has failed on all fronts, including curbing the rising prices of commodities.
Amending the taxi permit rules that has given another dimension to migrant politics in the state since new migrants cannot now get taxi permits, the government however clarified that existing taxi drivers, who hold a valid license, would not be affected by the decision.
The Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government in Maharashtra has outdone the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and Shiv Sena on the sons of the soil issue, directing that nameplates of commercial establishments in the state should be in Marathi.The state government issued a notification on May 31, directing that nameplates of all shops, establishments, commercial organisations, hotels, theatres and restaurants be in Marathi, an official release said.
Minutes after Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh announced that he had offered to step down, Union Minister and senior leader from the state Sushil Kumar Shinde met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi.
Chief Minister designate Ashok Chavan on Friday met Governor S C Jamir and staked claim to form the next government, 15 days after the Congress-NCP haggled over the portfolio issue.
Ending two weeks of suspense, Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan announced on Friday that the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government will be sworn in on Saturday
The Maharashtra results are not a win for the Congress' strengths but represent the voters desire for stability. In Maharahstra, the Congress has won due to the minimalist nature of hope of its voters.
The high-pitch campaign ended on Sunday in Maharashtra for the October 13 assembly elections which saw Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena fighting for the same political space and the ruling Congress-Nationalist Congress Party aiming a hat-trick.
An opinion poll conducted on the October 13 assembly polls predicts that the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party combine will emerge as the biggest alliance in Maharashtra while the ruling Congress is likely to win in Haryana with a safe margin. The survey, conducted by Star News television channel and Nielsen, with 23,122 voters in Maharashtra and 7,664 voters in Haryana, predicts that in Maharashtra, Congress will get 88 seats while giving 52 to the NCP.
Moments after being expelled from Samajwadi Party, Amar Singh on Tuesday struck a defiant note ruling out quitting his Rajya Sabha seat and termed as baseless reports about his cosying up to Congress, Nationalist Congress Party and Bahujan Samaj Party.
Member of Parliament Abu Asim Azmi has announced the setting up of a helpline for north Indians and proposed to start self-defence courses for migrants
The ruling Congress-Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra has garnered 37.38 per cent of the total votes polled in the just concluded assembly polls.
The issue of 'Marathi pride' raised by Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has polarised the state politics and the ruling Congress-Nationalist Congress Party coalition can ill afford to ignore its emotive appeal in an election year.
The ruling party received Rs 742 crore in 2018-19, a rise of 70 per cent from the previous year.
The contentious bill will be tables in RS on Wednesday. The BJP hopes to get up to 130 votes in a 240-member upper house.
A series of close-door meetings are being held at the chief minister's official residence at Altinho in Panaji, where Congress and NCP legislators are working on their strategy, sources said.
All eyes are now on 13 Independents and 16 MLAs from smaller parties.
Suspended Congress leader Narayan Rane on Saturday claimed that he holds the key to the survival of the soon-to-be-formed Ashok Chavan led Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government in Maharashtra.Rane refused to divulge his future course of action when the winter session of the legislature would be convened in Nagpur this month.He said he could provide a letter of 30 MLAs to the Governor, saying that they were not supporting the new government.
'Can the Congress leadership summon up the will to effect change?'
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