The premiere of Amitabh Bachchan's latest film, The Last Lear was cancelled after the theatre in which it was to be held was attacked by supporters of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.
In the backdrop of fresh tension triggered by his insistence on Marathi signboards for shops, the Mumbai police on Thursday barred Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray from addressing public meetings till September 30.The police sent a notice to Raj, asking him to abstain from making speeches till the end of this month.The notice was sent following a warning by Raj and his party members to all shopowners in the city asking them to put up signboards in Marathi.
The Mumbai police on Wednesday has warned Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray and his party workers to not commit any cognizable offence following which stringent action will be taken against them.
Most exit polls have predicted a clear victory for the BJP both in Maharashtra and in Haryana, even though they have differed in their projection on the number of seats.
Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday said he would build new leadership in the party and asserted he gets more energy to work when such situations come up.
'To essay Chhatrapati Shivaji is a huge responsibility. I can't tell you how great and proud I feel.'
Walse Patil said MNS chief Raj Thackeray will also be invited for the meeting.
The squads, to be called Atma Raksha Dal, would comprise 20 members each and protect interests of the poor people like hawkers and taxi drivers, who are normally target of MNS attacks, MPCC spokesperson Sanjay Nirupam told PTI.
"I will myself attend the Chhat Puja celebration," Deshmukh said, while replying to a query on the sidelines of a function organised by Marathi daily Dainik Ekmat. Asked about Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray's threat in his May 3 speech at Shivaji Park that he would not allow Lalu's Chhat Puja, Deshmukh said: "I will be there. It will be seen who has more strength."
The Mumbai police on Thursday served a notice to Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, asking him to observe restraint and not to commit any cognisable offence through his speeches and writings, which can create law and order problems.Raj, however, refused to accept the notice, forcing the police team to paste it outside his Shivaji Park residence in Mumbai."In his political activities, he must not commit any cognisable crime. This is a prevetive notice," said a cop
The Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission on Wednesday warned Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, 'not to cross his limits', during the rally he plans to address on Saturday. Raj, who had initiated a violent anti-north Indian campaign in February and was arrested on charges of inciting his cadres, plans to hold a rally at the historic Shivaji Park on Saturday, in which he plans to chart out the future course of action for his two-year-old outfit.
Actor Amitabh Bachchan has rubbished reports that incidents of bottle throwing on his house, during the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena campaign against North Indians, were manipulated."If some feel that this was manipulated they are so wrong. You attribute far too much to my devious acumen. I am afraid I do not possess such attributes." he said. Bachchan said his wife Jaya's recent walk out from Parliament was her right as a Member of Parliament.
"Two women from Uttar Pradesh were raped and no complaint has been lodged so far. Local people know the culprits but they are frightened to name them," Abu Azmi said. Azmi alleged that the Congress, heading the coalition government in Maharashtra, is supporting Raj to secure its vote bank and ignoring his activities.Raj should be charged for murder and robbery as the MNS campaign claimed two lives and many north Indians were looted while fleeing Maharashtra, he said.
After actor Amitabh Bachchan vowed not to leave Mumbai in the wake of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena campaign against him, party chief Raj Thackeray on Friday said that he had never asked the actor to leave Maharashtra. Raj's remarks came in the wake of Bachchan's comments three days ago, stating that he was not an outsider in Mumbai and that he would not leave the city.The actor had made the remarks as he was hurt by the campaign that was unleashed by the MNS against him.
A Bench comprising Justices Arijit Pasayat and D K Jain said that Raj Thackeray can approach the concerned high court for appropriate remedy following which his counsel preferred to withdraw the petition.
Four people were arrested for allegedly damaging five taxis, owned by North Indians, in the early hours of Saturday in Mumbai, police said. Efforts were on to ascertain whether the arrested belonged to Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), which had run an anti-north Indian campaign last month, they said.
Terming north-Indians as the life-line of Mumbai, Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Thursday said that anti-people forces like the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and the Shiv Sena were trying to divide the nation."Maharashtra has 57 per cent of north Indians who are toiling for the progress of the state and nation. MNS and Bal Thackeray would face a severe repercussion of their drive, to separate people, on the basis of region or language," said Paswan.
The Bombay high court on Friday set aside the stay granted by a sessions court on the extension of the gag order against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray.
Additional Sessions Judge S N Sardesai, however, has said that the court's order will not be applicable until 5 pm on Friday to allow the police to approach the Bombay high court to appeal against the order.
Talking to reporters in Mumbai, MNS general secretary Shirish Parkar said that the party would again raise the issue on 'World Marathi Day'. Admitting that the condition of Marathi language was bad, he quoted a couplet of veteran Marathi poet Suresh Bhat for the same. He also criticised the Central government for ignoring Maharashtra in the Railway Budget, which was presented by Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on Tuesday
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's sons of the soil campaign and the resultant violence have severely affected the real estate industry in Pune. Over 60 per cent construction workers have left the city and this is set to delay the completion of over 55,000 flats in Pune.
The Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has asked Congress president Sonia Gandhi to send back 25 lakh Biharis in the city to their home state.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray was arrested in Mumbai on Wednesday afternoon.
Amar Singh said that he could, on behalf of Bachchan, state that the actor would leave Mumbai if it was proved that he has not done more for Maharashtra than for Uttar Pradesh.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena state unit general secretary Vasant Gite was detained in Nashik on Wednesday, as a preventive measure, ahead of the possible arrest of party chief Raj Thackeray. Three MNS leaders have also been taken into preventive custody, Police Commissioner S M Sayyad told PTI. With this, the total number of arrests has gone up to 126 since Tuesday, he said.
Amid a raging controversy surrounding North Indians in Mumbai, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan has suggested that he was jittery to even say he is from Delhi and wanted to do something for his "home town".
A handful of MNS activists allegedly beat up the vendors and damaged their hand-carts to protest the likely arrest of their leader and MNS chief Raj Thackeray, police said.
Thackeray did not even spare Hindi and English channels and he barred them from covering his press conference, alleging they were giving a distorted picture about him.
The recent attacks on north Indians by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena are a shrewd ploy of party chief Raj Thackeray to embarrass the Shiv Sena and usurp its core Marathi constituency, political observers in Mumbai say.
After a PIL in the Supreme Court demanding de-recognition of the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena for its anti-North Indians campaign, a similar PIL was filed in the Bombay High Court on Friday seeking a ban on MNS and also to conduct a CBI probe into the entire incident.
Congress Member of Parliament and spokesperson Sanjay Nirupam and 20 of his supporters were detained on Tuesday, ahead of a protest march planned by them, to Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray's residence in central Mumbai. Meanwhile, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's spokesperson Shishir Shinde was also detained by the police on Tuesday, party sources said. The police, however, refused to confirm the report.
"We have arrested a total of 92 persons till now, including 73 from the MNS and 19 from the SP for indulging in violence, which started on Sunday afternoon," Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) K L Prasad told PTI.
"Our party president Raj Thackeray only meant to say that some people from outside states were trying to provoke the locals and we must be vigilant and alert against such elements. We are not against north Indians at all," party spokesperson Shirish Parkar said on Monday.
The motion was sent to the centre and Maharashtra government with a request that they should initiate stern action against elements encouraging divisive tendencies.
Time the Shiv Sena and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena cease talking about protecting the Maharashtrian asmita (pride) when they talk in support of fighting the influx of job-seeking migrants. Instead they should come clean on the fact that the present concern with regard to migrants is only economic.
Raj said MNS would contest all elections in Maharashtra.
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.
Sachin Tendulkar and his wife Anjali voted in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections at Bandra.
"Due to the kind of family environment I have come from, I believe in giving leadership and not in contesting polls. So, it is very much clear that I will not fight any election. But, MNS will definitely contest coming Lok Sabha elections," Raj, who is touring Vidarbha, said at a press conference in Amravati on Monday.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Sunday declared that he was not afraid of fighting for the sons-of-the-soil issue and was ready to do anything for the Marathi manoos.Thackeray also appealed them not to allow migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to settle down in Amravati as it is not in larger interest of the state."People from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are trying to settle in all parts of Maharashtra. It is dangerous," he said.
