Maharashtra Navnirman Sena Chief Raj Thackeray on Monday dared Maharashtra government to arrest him and warned the state will have to "regret" the consequences in the event of that.
The warrant against Thackeray for allegedly making derogatory remarks against members of the Bihari community, was brought to Mumbai by the Jamshedpur police and will be served on the MNS leader later in the week as Thackeray is presently out of the city, he said.
It was a meeting to show solidarity with the laid-off Jet Airways staffers, but MNS chief Raj Thackeray's men turned it into a coaching class for Marathi.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray's son Amit Thackeray on Sunday got married to his fiancee and fashion designer Mitali Borude at a hotel in Mumbai's central area of Lower Parel.
Toughening his stand against migrants, specially north Indians, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Thursday indicated that his party would launch more intense agitation on the issue.
The Bombay High Court on Thursday slammed the Maharashtra government for its handling of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's agitation about Marathi signboards."Why no action has been taken against respondent number six (Raj Thackeray)?....Are some people untouchable for you?" Justice Patel asked as the government failed to file a proper reply regarding the action taken.
Amitabh Bachchan addressed a press conference on September 10 to clear the air about the controversy that erupted after his wife Jaya's comments at the Drona music launch. He also announced that his new film, The Last Lear, would release as per schedule this week despite Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Raj Thackeray calling for a ban on all Bachchan movies in Maharashtra.
Maharasthtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray has stated that the party will not allow the release of films starring the Bachchans until Jaya Bachchan tenders an unconditional apology over her alleged anti-Marathi remarks.
A delegation of shop owners on Friday requested Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray to extend the deadline for Marathi signboards by three months. With festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi, Dusshera and Diwali round the corner, shop owners need some time to put up Marathi boards and change interior of the shops accordingly, they said.
Stepping up his campaign for Marathi signboards, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray warned shop owners, not putting up the boards by Thursday, to face the wrath of his men and asked police to think before lathi-charging his party workers. Raj said he has written a letter to the police, asking them to "think twice" before lathi-charging MNS activists involved in the agitation to enforce the civic body's deadline stipulating Marathi signboards on the city shops.
A court in Jamshedpur issued a non-bailable warrant against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray for failing to appear before it in a case regarding his alleged derogatory remarks on 'chat festival'.
Members of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena on Saturday celebrated the 40th birthday of their leader Raj Thackeray by organising blood donation camps and other social activities.However, the MNS refrained from holding a Hatt Puja programme, a take-off on the Chhat Puja performed by north Indians, which has become a bone of contention between MNS and migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.Over 20,000 supporters visited the MNS chief's home at Dadar and greeted their leader.
A Jamshedpur court on Friday issued an arrest warrant against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, the second such warrant by a Jharkhand court in the past one year, after he failed to appear in the court on Thursday in connection with a case of making allegedly provocative comments against members of a particular community about a year ago.On May 16, the Jharkhand high court directed the MNS chief to appear in the lower court in Jamshedpur on June 12.
'Why should we have to complain about its forced usage or suffocate having someone pushing it down our throats?'
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Shivaji Bhor was attacked by two unidentified persons near Chhatrapati Maharaj statue in Nashik, police said on Friday.
A day after Shiv Sena chief was admitted to Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai, his estranged nephew paid a visit to the hospital along wth his wife.
Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, which won 13 of the 288 assembly seats in Maharashtra, has been recognised as a state party and will be allotted a permanent election symbol. The party contested the October 13 polls using the Railway Engine, a temporary symbol allotted to it by the commission. "As per our norms, a party, in order to be recognised as a state party, should win at least three per cent of the total number of seats in the House," said an EC official.
As soon as the House assembled for the day, SP members were up on their feet shouting slogans but Chairman Hamid Ansari asked the members to settle down as obituary references had to be made. The SP members raised slogans demanding arrest of Raj Thackeray and protection of the Constitution.
Accused of not doing enough for Maharashtra, Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan on Tuesday said nothing could stop him from staying in Mumbai even if those opposed to him "throw bottles at my house or paint my posters black or burn effigies".
Police harassed superstar Amitabh Bachchan and favoured people like Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, Samajwadi Party leader Abu Asim Azmi alleged on Friday. Azmi claimed Bachchan was forced to withdraw a case of attack on his bungalow in Mumbai during the anti-north Indian campaign led by the Raj's party.
The auto sector in Pune, which houses production centres of the most prominent auto manufacturers in the country, says that 60-70 per cent of its labour is already local. They were reponding to the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray's call yesterday urging companies to reserve 80 per cent of all industrial jobs created for local Maharashtrians.
Two months after targetting north Indian migrants, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Raj Thackeray has raked up son-of-the soil issue demanding 80 per cent job reservation for Marathi-speaking locals in private sector.
A poster mocking actor Amitabh Bachchan on being part of the No-Honking Drive initiative of the Mumbai Traffic Police was put up in Mumbai on Wednesday. The poster -- Marathi -- bears the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena logo, Juhu residents said.
The ongoing tussle between Amitabh Bachchan and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena supremo Raj Thackeray has taken another turn, as the Bollywood superstar has broken his silence once again. In an interview to the tabloid Mumbai Mirror, Bachchan said, 'I am not leaving this city and going anywhere. Let them throw bottles and stones. Let them burn my effigies and bring morchas in front of my house -- but I won't budge.'
An article, published in Saturday's edition of Sena's mouthpiece Saamna, which is edited by Thackeray, accuses Bachchan of not doing enough for Maharashtra. The article cites the example of Tamil superstar Rajnikanth, who participated in the protest by Tamil Nadu against Karnataka over the Hoggenakal issue, even though he hails from Karnataka. The article goes on to suggest scathingly that Bachchan should take a leaf out of Rajnikanth's book.
Alarmed by damage made by Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) in last Lok Sabha polls, the BJP has chalked out a campaign strategy which would focus on making people realise that voting MNS is akin to voting for Congress-NCP.
Replying to Maharashtra Navnirman Sena supremo Raj Thackeray's remarks against him, Amitabh Bachchan has stated that India is a free country and everyone has the right to live wherever they please. This is the first time Bachchan has reacted in public against Thackeray ever since the latter targetted him for being more loyal to his hometown, Uttar Pradesh, rather than Maharashtra, where he has been residing for more than 40 years.
Raj Thackeray's political party, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), has attacked Amitabh Bachchan once again. This time, they mocked him through a poster, for going back on his decision to donate his agricultural land to farmers in the Pune district.
In a resolution adopted at the ongoing 20th Congress of the party in Hyderabad on Tuesday, the CPI strongly condemned 'the divisive anti-national agitation started by MNS and other forces' in Mumbai and other places in Maharashtra.
Noted Bhojpuri singer and Bollywood actor Manoj Tiwari on Monday said that he would prefer to sacrifice his life to safeguard the interests of Biharis and North Indians living in Mumbai than yielding to pressure of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray and Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray.
Sooner or later, India will have to address the issue of regional disparity. Unfortunately the solution lies in social and political reforms in the BIMARU states. Presently there seems no sign of it.
The attack on North Indians in Maharashtra generated major uproar in the Lok Sabha on Monday, with demands that Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray be detained under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act and that he be disenfranchised. Members from Janata Dal-United, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Samajwadi Party, most of them belonging to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, expressed grave concern over the attack on North Indians in Maharashtra.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Wednesday moved a court afresh seeking quashing of the extension of the police order prohibiting him from holding rallies, public meetings and addressing the media.
The gag order was issued on February 14 following Raj's statements against north Indian migrants that had led to violence in the metropolis and parts of Maharashtra.
Against the backdrop of exodus of North Indian labourers, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) in Nashik has asked trained Marathi workers to register themselves with the party to enable them to get jobs in local industries.
The Supreme Court on Friday expressed displeasure over Raj Thackeray's remarks on people coming to Mumbai from other states.
The Shiv Sena on Thursday offered to provide "Marathi workers" to industrial units in and around Nashik following the exodus of many labourers in the wake of the anti-north Indian campaign led by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena earlier this month.
Thackeray, in an editorial published in party mouthpiece Saamana, said, "The Karunanidhi government has issued an ordinance making Tamil compulsory in all schools in the state." "Lalu, who has turned Bihar into hell, should hold a mela of Biharis in Tamil Nadu, ruled by his ally at the Centre, to champion the cause of North Indians there."
"No programme like UP Day, which shows north Indians' poltical goondaism will be allowed to take place here (Mumbai). We will first request them with folded hands. If that does not work, we will face them with open hands," Thackeray said in an interview to Marathi weekly Lokprabha.
The police on Friday arrested two more Maharashtra Navnirman Sena students' wing activists in connection with the death of an Hindustan Aeronautical Limited employee due to the violence sparked off after the arrest of party chief Raj Thackeray.