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.
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.
The motion was sent to the centre and Maharashtra government with a request that they should initiate stern action against elements encouraging divisive tendencies.
Raj said MNS would contest all elections in Maharashtra.
"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.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Thursday said he was not into politics for personal gains, but to fight for issues. "I am not bothered about any gains or losses that I might incur with my involvement in politics. I have taken up certain issues, and I will stick to them," Thackeray told newspersons during an informal chat in Nagpur.
The media breathed life into the MNS which did not take off at a trajectory which would make it an electoral challenge to any political party... It gave him the cause. Strange, but true. And also tragic.
Bowing down to pressure, Jaya Bachchan on Tuesday apologised for her remark about speaking in Hindi, which had invited the wrath of both the Shiv Sena and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. "I am very sorry if I have hurt the sentiments of Marathi speaking people in Mumbai and Maharashtra," Jaya said in an interview to Mumbai Mirror.
Hitting out at Rane, he said, "Rane was greedy for power and he knows very well the reasons why I threw him out of the Sena. It is because of the Sena that he has earned a fortune and now he is out to destroy the same party."
Ace batsman Sachin Tendulkar was seen in a new role when he recited his late father and renowned Marathi poet Ramesh Tendulkar's poem at a function in Mumbai.
Shops and all commercial establishments were closed down in Dadar after the clashes escalated and traffic was being diverted in the area, they said.
"This is a free country and every individual enjoys the liberty of free speech. The law of the land and its Constitution are supreme. Every Indian should be governed by that," the actor said, responding to a query on the impact of the MNS chief's charges against him and his family.
Prakash Mahajan, younger brother of late Bharatiya Janata Party leader Pramod Mahajan, was on Thursday appointed chief organiser of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.
Rabri Devi dared the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena from stopping her and her husband, Lalu Prasad, from holding the Chhat Puja in Mumbai. She also said that MNS chief Raj Thackeray had hurt Biharis with his anti-Chhat comments.
"Those who seek to divide on the basis of religion, on the basis of caste or on the basis of the place one belongs to, I think they do not serve the cause of national unity or national progress," he said without naming anybody or a political party.
"Since Raj is fighting for the Marathi Manoos, we are ready to face any consequence..... but there is tension in the house," Raj's mother-in-law Padma Wagh told PTI. She voiced concern about Raj's son Amit, who is going to appear for his tenth standard examination next month. "I am worried about Amit because of Raj's likely arrest, as he has to appear for SSC exams next month," she said.
While the common man is facing all these issues, those in power at the Centre are not ready to pay attention to these issues
"Our soldiers don't have any personal animosity with Pakistani soldiers. The bullets our soldiers face are not filmy. Salman gets up after being hit by a bullet," Raj said, reacting to Salman's remarks, adding "I have seen his tubelight blinker many a time."
The MNS chief gave the Western Railway an ultimatum of 15 days to evict illegal hawkers from all railway stations, failing which, he said, he will deal with them in the 'MNS style'.
"I have said earlier also, let Balasaheb say anything against me, I will not respond, but let nobody else come between us. The minute anyone else starts to speak, I will not spare them," he said.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray Tuesday said his uncle and Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray had asked him to stop using his photos banners, at "the behest of someone else".
Bal Thackeray said Raj can return to the Sena, but wanted him to make the first move.
"We know what they (MNS) are doing. They do not have any more real issues to take to the people and that is why they are resorting to such acts," Uddhav told reporters.
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