Maharashtra minister Prakash Abitkar said efforts are underway to bring back elephant Mahadevi from a rescue center in Gujarat. The elephant was relocated following a court order due to health concerns. Local leaders are protesting the relocation and seeking her return.
They presented a letter urging him to look into the violation and preserve the product, which is a symbol of the state's cultural heritage.
Thousands of people participated in a 'silent march' in Kolhapur on Sunday, demanding that 36-year-old female elephant Mahadevi (also called Madhuri), be brought back from Vantara wildlife rescue, treatment, and rehabilitation centre in Gujarat's Jamnagar district.
Artisans from Maharashtra have cried foul after footwear similar to the famous Kolhapuri chappals featured in Prada's show. They alleged violation of geographical identification (GI) rights.
Senior Congress leader and Maharashtra assembly poll candidate Balasaheb Thorat has asserted that the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) will win a clear majority and also indicated his chief ministerial aspirations. Thorat, who is among the senior leaders in the MVA after NCP (SP) head Sharad Pawar, said he enjoys cordial relations with leaders of the alliance. He also criticized the ruling Mahayuti coalition, accusing it of corruption and communal politics.
Seven candidates are in the fray for six Upper House seats from Maharashtra that will go to polls.
Maha Vikas Aghadi, comprising the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress, has called a meeting of its MLAs in Mumbai on June 7.
Fadnavis said that with this win in the Rajya Sabha elections, the BJP has started its victory march, which he said would continue till the next polls.
In a major setback to Maharashtra's ruling alliance of Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday won three of the six Rajya Sabha seats, while the ruling combine questioned the eight-hour delay in counting of votes.
A special court in Mumbai on Thursday rejected the pleas filed by Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik and former minister Anil Deshmukh seeking a day's bail to vote in the Rajya Sabha elections to be held on Friday.
Taking no chances after the Rajya Sabha poll setback, the ruling Mahi Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra has asked all its MLAs to gather in Mumbai ahead of the June 20 election to the state legislative council.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded Union minister Piyush Goyal, as well as its senior leaders Anil Bonde and Dhananjay Mahadik for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections to six seats from Maharashtra, and senior party leader Devendra Fadnavis asserted that all of them will win.
MLAs of smaller parties like the Bachhu Kadu-led Prahar and Independent legislators also attended the meeting, Prabhu added.
The crucial, neck-to-neck contest was necessitated as the Bharatiya Janata Party fielded three candidates while Shiv Sena put up two and Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party one each.
After being outwitted by the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party in the recent Rajya Sabha elections in Maharashtra, the ruling Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is now facing another challenge of getting all its six candidates elected to the state Legislative Council in the June 20 polls, which has once again put the spotlight on Independents and smaller parties.
Kande, in his petition filed through advocate Ajinkya Udane, said the ECI's decision discharging his vote has caused grave prejudice to his dignity and reputation, and sought that the HC quash and set aside the ECI's decision.
His reaction comes in the backdrop of Shiv Sena candidate Sanjay Pawar losing the sixth seat in the Rajya Sabha polls from Maharashtra held on Friday, a contest which had become a high-prestige battle between the ruling Sena and the opposition BJP in the state.
All legislators of the Sena have been summoned to Mumbai and they will stay together till the polls on June 10.
If a local court in Mumbai allows former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh and minister Nawab Malik to cast their votes in the June 10 Rajya Sabha elections, the two leaders will be brought to the Vidhan Bhavan, the state legislature complex in Mumbai, at a specific time to take part in the voting process, an official said on Wednesday.
Kande, in his petition filed through advocate Ajinkya Udane, said the ECI's decision discharging his vote has caused grave prejudice to his dignity and reputation, and sought that the HC quash and set aside the ECI's decision.
In an editorial in Sena mouthpiece Saamana, the MVA lead party, in a rare move, praised BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis for his 'cleverness and astute poll management.
The counting was scheduled to start at 5 pm Friday, but it could not be taken up as the Bharatiya Janata Party approached the Election Commission alleging violation of rules by three MLAs of the state's ruling alliance of Maha Vikas Aghadi.
Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal, Randeep Surjewala and Jairam Ramesh of the Congress and Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut were among the 16 candidates elected to the Rajya Sabha from four states where polling was held on Friday after tussle over cross voting and alleged breach of election rules delayed the counting by around eight hours in Maharashtra and Haryana.
Even though MLAs are required to show their ballot to respective party whips before casting their vote, all parties have ensured their MLAs are housed in five star hotels closer to the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha where voting will take place on June 10.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget speech on Wednesday was marked by the usual thumping of benches by the ruling alliance members, but the loudest cheer was reserved for her announcement of income tax relief, which was welcomed by 'Modi, Modi' chants in Lok Sabha that also witnessed a few instances of protest by the Opposition.
Bharatiya Janata Party-backed independent candidate Sadabhau Khot and Nationalist Congress Party's Shivajrao Gajre on Monday withdrew their nominations for the Maharashtra Legislative Council polls, leaving 11 contestants in the fray for 10 seats as the state was set to witness another bitter fight between the BJP and the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) after the last week's cliffhanger in the Rajya Sabha polls.
Praful Patel said all the MLAs of the NCP, the Congress, and the Shiv Sena voted as per the party line.
Raut said Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray was distressed over the defeat of Sanjay Pawar.
India overcame a two-goal deficit to eke out a 3-2 win over Argentina and finish with the bronze medal in the Champions Challenge hockey tournament in Salta, Argentina.
Dragflicker Dhananjay Mahadik feels short corners will be India's strong point in the forthcoming hockey World Cup starting Sunday and Sandeep Singh will be their trump card.
Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi had things their way as India ruled the tennis courts at the Commonwealth Games on Tuesday.
India pumped in four goals in the second half to rout hosts Belgium 6-0 in the third and final hockey Test and clinch the series 2-0 at Wellington, Brussels.
Drag-flicker Dhananjay Mahadik scored a hat-trick as defending champions India crushed Egypt 7-1 to enter the final of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament in Ipoh on Saturday.
Arjun Halappa and Dhananjay Mahadik sounded the board as India beat Belgium 2-0 in the final Test to clinch the three-match hockey series 2-1 in Braxgata on Friday.
Dhananjay Mahadik scored twice as India overcame a determined Canadian challenge to win the second hockey Test 4-3 and go 2-0 up in the seven-match series, at the University of Victoria ground in Victoria on on Sunday.
The Indian hockey team began its European tour on a losing note, suffering a 1-3 defeat to England in a rain-soaked encounter of the three-match Test series in Birmingham.
'The sixth seat was a risk for the MVA, but Uddhav Thackeray took the risk,' Pawar said. 'In politics, one has to take risks.'
India held off a later rally by the Dutch to win their opening match in the four-nation junior hockey tournament in Spain.
So worried is Shiv Sena rebel leader Eknath Shinde of desertions that he is asking rebel MLAs in Guwahati to sign affidavits affirming that they won't go back on supporting the 'cause of Hindutva' after reaching Mumbai.
The letter was posted by Shinde on his Twitter handle, claiming these were the sentiments of the Sena MLAs.
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