The Bombay High Court on Thursday lashed out at the Maharashtra government over the threat given by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena about displaying the Marathi signboard on the shops and establishments in the metropolis.The division bench, consisting of Justices J N Patel and K K Tated, while hearing the petition, asked the state government to provide details of the preventive action the state has taken in response to the MNS deadline for Marathi signboards, which ended today.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Thursday accused Shiv Sena of adopting dual standards, saying the party was insisting on an apology from Shah Rukh Khan over his pro-Pakistan remarks while keeping mum on megastar Amitabh Bachchan's campaign for good ties with that country.
Speaking at a rally at Shivaji Park in Mumbai on Saturday, Raj Thackeray had criticised Sharad Pawar, accusing him of 'playing the caste card from time to time and dividing society'.
The Aurangabad bench of Bombay High Court on Thursday, stayed the arrest warrant of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray till February 17, in connection with stone pelting by the party activists on a bus near Aurangabad in 2008.
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".
The Supreme Court on Friday shifted to a Delhi court seven cases registered against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray in Jharkhand and Bihar for promoting animosity among citizens by his alleged hate speeches against north Indians.
The Supreme Court on Friday shifted to a Delhi court seven cases registered against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray in Jharkhand and Bihar for promoting animosity among citizens by his alleged hate speeches against north Indians.
Known for its abhorrence of Samajwadi Party Member of Legislative Assembly Abu Azmi, Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena is likely to back the Congress candidate in the by-election to the Bhiwandi assembly seat in Maharashtra against the SP leader's son Farhan.
The Aurangabad bench of Bombay High Court on Monday stayed the non-bailable arrest warrant issued by a local court against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray for four weeks.
Close on the heels of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena demanding prime time slots for Marathi movies in theatres, the Shiv Sena claimed on Tuesday that the party has been fighting for the cause since long as it had filed a petition in the court for at least 500 shows for such movies every year.
As the political turmoil in Maharashtra continues to unfold, rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shide spoke to Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray about the recent political situation in the state, confirmed MNS leader on Monday.
Pressing his party's demand for employment to 'sons of soil', Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray has warned the post master general to give priority to locals for the post office jobs or else cancel the recruitment procedure.
Pressing his party's demand for employment to 'sons of soil', Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray has warned the postmaster general to give priority to locals for the post office jobs or else cancel the recruitment procedure.
Sonia, who was addressing a convention of Congress functionaries and peoples' representatives in Maharashtra, said, "Here (in Maharashtra) regionalism is being encouraged. We have to fight the forces of regionalism, which are dividing society for their vested interests." The Congress president also asked party workers to work together and strengthen the party.
A day after Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray received death threats from a 'Bihari' organisation, the Maharashtra government has provided him with 'Y' security cover.
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.
Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray is back, in an implicit admission that he erred in his political judgement. A few years ago, Thackeray had annointed his son Uddhav as the party's executive president bypassing his cousin Raj, who went on to form the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). Incidentally, the MNS spoiled the prospects of the Shiv Sena in the recent Maharashtra Assembly elections.
Shiv Sena candidate Shraddha Jadhav was elected as the new mayor of Mumbai on Tuesday. Jadhav defeated Congress rival P Kadam by 19 votes, helping Sena retain the mayor's post.
The Mumbai police filed a 73-page charge sheet in a local court against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray and 20 others for rioting and assault on North Indians appearing for a Railway recruitment examination in Mumbai in 2008.
Scotching speculation of any alliance between the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party and Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), Sena chief Bal Thackeray said there was no need for a "third entity" in the combine.
The Samajawadi Party will honour its Maharashtra unit president and newly elected legislator Abu Asim Azmi for taking oath in national language despite being assaulted by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena legislators inside the Maharashtra Assembly.
Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, whose members assaulted Samajwadi Party legislator Abu Asim Azmi in the Maharashtra assembly, on Wednesday said they would apologise to the House for their action but not to the Member of Legislative assembly."We will apologise in the assembly as it was not our intention to malign the image of the House. However, there is no question of apologising to Azmi," MNS leader Atul Sarpotdar said.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has conveyed his concern to Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh over the security of Biharis and other Hindi-speaking people living there. Kumar also sought effective steps for the safety and security of these people, a spokesman for the chief minister's office said. Deshmukh assured the Bihar chief minister of providing security to the lives and property of the Hindi-speaking population in Maharashtra.
MNS members assaulted SM MLA Abu Azmi over taking the oath in Hindi.
Maharashtra assembly witnessed scenes of pandemonium on Monday as Members of Legislative Assembly of the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena tried to prevent Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Asim Azmi from taking oath in Hindi.The MNS MLAs, who had earlier demanded that all legislators take their oaths in Marathi, created a ruckus the moment Azmi started taking his oath.Azmi was reportedly hit by MNS MLA Ram Kadam. The House was adjourned for 20 minutes following the ruckus.
Top political leaders of Bihar, including Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad and Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan, on Monday strongly condemned the attack on Samajwadi Party Member of Legislative Assembly Abu Asim Azmi.Nitish Kumar condemned the incident and declared that it had again exposed the MNS' true colours "We will take the matter up with the Union government as well as the Maharashtra government."
'If the Thackeray cousins love the media, the media too adores the two bespectacled Thackeray scions, who in their bid to espouse their Marathi manoos agenda, have become an easy bait for a medium that depends for its survival on high TRPs and ad revenues.'
Before Maharashtra assembly commence its first session of Legislature, a political debate has started between the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and its rival Samajwadi Party with the SP MLA Abu Asim Azmi demanding the House agenda in Hindi.
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.
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.
Did the Congress win based on performance or due to factors like Raj Thackeray?
In a veiled attack on estranged nephew and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray on Tuesday said, "People of Maharashtra should show those trying to divide Marathi votes, their proper place."
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray was one of the guests at the Prati-Kolhapur Festival, which was held at Shivaji Park in Mumbai on Monday.Thackeray, who donned a Kolhapuri headgear for the occasion, was his usual fiery self.
On the eve of the Maharashtra assembly election, Loksatta Editor Kumar Ketkar, one of the most accomplished commentators on the state's politics, speaks to Prasanna D Zore.
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Wednesday described Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray as the new Mohammad Ali Jinnah and said his estranged nephew was intent on dividing Marathi people.
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.
A Jamshedpur court on Tuesday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray.This is the third such warrant issued against him on the charges of hurting religious sentiments and abusing Biharis.Two other non-bailable arrest warrants issued by the court of Judicial Magistrate A K Tiwari are already pending against Thackeray.
"We are not against the common man or the migrant workers from UP and Bihar. If somebody changes according to the house of the host (Maharashtra), he is welcome, but if somebody wants to change the host's home by dadagiri (force), we will never tolerate it," Raj asserted.
Conspicuous by his silence when terror ripped the city apart, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader finally went out and thanked the firemen who doused the fire at the iconic Taj Hotel on that fateful night.
Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh on Wednesday alleged the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party of collusion with Raj Thackeray and sought to remind the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president that Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan had made immense contribution to Maharashtra.
