Amid speculation that the candidature of Rajendra Shekhawat, son of President Pratibha Patil, has been cleared for Maharashtra Assembly polls, the state Congress leadership left it to the party high command to decide the issue of tickets to kins of senior leaders.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh's resignation has been accepted, says Congress leader A K Antony.
Minutes after Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh announced that he had offered to step down, Union Minister and senior leader from the state Sushil Kumar Shinde met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi.
Suzuki will also meet Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, industry sources said. The country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India, majority owned by the Japanese firm, is investing up to Rs 1,500 crore (Rs 15 billion) in building test tracks and an R&D centre in Rohtak, Haryana.
The United Kingdom will investigate the reports claiming two of the eight terrorists arrested in the Mumbai terror attack are British nationals.A nine-member team from Scotland Yard has left for Mumbai to probe the British links of the arrested terrorists. Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh had told a TV channel on Friday that two arrested terrorists were 'British citizens of Pakistani origin'.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh would be making a strong pitch for attracting foreign investment during a presentation at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Inviting global business leaders to invest in Maharashtra, Deshmukh would be making a presentation at the four-day WEF meet in Switzerland beginning on January 23, official sources said.
The Nationalist Congress Party's seat-sharing with the Congress in Maharashtra could turn out to be a ticklish task with Union Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh contending that it should reflect the Lok Sabha election results in the state.
Nitish Kumar requested Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh to deal with such divisive elements with an iron fist. "I expect the Maharashtra government to act tough and protect our students," Nitish Kumar said in Patna on Monday morning.
Dow India would comply with all the directives stated by the government to work outa solution to the current situation, the company said. Recently the company's research facility at Chakan was razed by a group of villagers, following which members of the Warkari sect claimed responsibility for the act, saying they would not allow the facility to come up at a place which is sacred to the followers of the 17th century Bhakti movement saint Tukaram.
Notwithstanding the party's gag order, Union Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said Congress should go it alone in the assembly elections in Maharashtra.
Maharashtra Congress leader and Union Heavy Industries Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Monday side stepped the Padamsinh Patil issue, saying it is an internal matter of the NCP.He was responding to a question on whether Patil should resign from the Parliament, in the wake of his arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation, in a murder case.The matter is subjudice and the law will take its own course, Deshmukh said.
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Friday took charge of the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, and said achieving the 100-day target set by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would be his priority.
When contacted, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh declined to comment.\n
Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh maintained that Maharashtra continues to remain the top destination for industrial investment in the country.
Announcing this at a function in Pune, Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said the decision to double the FSI for new urban townships has received the Cabinet nod. He said the new townships would decongest big cities offering residential premises to a growing number of urban population. The developers in these areas would be charged an extra amount by the government for the additional FSI which would be utilised for other projects, he said on Sunday.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh came to the help of Anna Hazare who was shown the door by the political class of the country at the all party meeting.
Sakal also regaled readers with a story on the remake of Bollywood blockbuster Sholay by its original director Ramesh Sippy, after the disastrous attempt by Ramgopal Varma last year.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Friday denied ever having exerted pressure on State Election Commissioner Nand Lal over the delimitation exercise in his constituency and accused him of lying. "The allegation by Nand Lal, that there was pressure from me for dereserving Latur constituency in the delimitation exercise, is baseless," Deshmukh said.Deshmukh's remarks came after Nand Lal, who spent a night Jail, accused the CM of political vedetta.
Although the stated objective of Chandurkar for the motion was the 'breach of privilege' of the House by Nand Lal in the matter of orders issued by the State Election Commissioner on elections to posts of local self-government bodies, there was speculation that Chandurkar, a Deshmukh loyalist, was targeting state CEO over his anti-Deshmukh stance. Lal alleged there was 'political vendetta' behind the assembly's decision to send him to two-day civil custody.
Farmers will finally have a right to decide if their land can be acquired or not for special economic zones in Maharashtra.
Let me assure you that we will spare no efforts to ensure that quality of life in Mumbai is comparable to the best international cities, says Maharashtra chief minister.
The Maharashtra government is seeking the opinion of the state's Advocate General on the issue of the arrest of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena Chief Raj Thackeray for his remarks against north Indians, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said on Thursday. "For an arrest warrant, we are seeking legal opinion. The police will take action according to advise," he said. Deshmukh said it was the government's job to provide all residents of Mumbai protection.
The explosives were found in a haversack that was among the 150 unclaimed baggages at the terminus post the November 26 attack. The haversack was similar to the one carried by the terrorists who attacked the terminus, says acting ATS chief K P Raghuvanshi.
With the Centre asking the state government to take proper steps to maintain law and order, Deshmukh said stern action would be taken against the guilty and there will be full protection for those living in Mumbai.
"Only time will tell," was the cryptic reply from Congress general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi to a question from media-persons at the end of a three-hour meeting of the Congress Working Committee. Asked if Patil offered to resign at the meeting, Dwivedi quipped, "I have not heard the question."
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's allegation that he was not allowed to visit Maharashtra on Thursday and barred from visiting terror attack spots on Friday is politically motivated, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has said.Reacting strongly to Modi's charge that although he wanted to visit Mumbai on Thursday, he was not allowed to do so, Deshmukh said, "Modi need not be told that there is no point visiting places where police, NSG and the army is engaged."
Singh, who along with United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Home Minister Shivraj Patil, undertook a whirlwind tour of Mumbai, held the meeting with Maharashtra Governor S C Jamir and Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh. National Security Adviser M K Narayanan, top state government and police officials of Maharashtra, senior officials of the army, paramilitary and intelligence officials were also present at the meeting
The Prime Minister's Office said Singh was in touch with Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and was monitoring the situation. The Centre has immediately decided to dispatch National Security Guard commandos to supplement the efforts being made by local police and CRPF, Deshmukh said.
"People of Maharashtra are large-hearted and they have accepted everyone. But some people want to spoil that image," Deshmukh said in an apparent reference to Raj Thackeray-led MNS, which has launched an agitation against north Indian migrants to Mumbai and the state.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has said his Revenue Minister and former Shiv Sena leader Narayan Rane had aspirations to become Chief Minister and had joined the Congress with this sole objective.
Replying to questions in Rajya Sabha, he said CAG in its audit observations has pointed out financial irregularities of Rs 1404.32 crore (Rs 14.04 billion) in its 2008 report and Rs 4547.63 crore (Rs 45.47 billion) in the 2007 report. Deshmukh said CAG has also pointed out reasons for deficiencies in the accounts of PSUs.
Dr Singh, in a letter written on October 27, told Deshmukh that his government cannot be a spectator during deliberate attempts to disturb peace in the state, NDTV reported.
Facing criticism from his cabinet and party colleague Narayan Rane over the functioning of the state government, Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Wednesday said he will abide by the directives of his party leadership.
Political analysts said that the meeting assumes importance as dissident Congress leader Narayan Rane is a 'common enemy' of both Thackeray as well as Pawar.
Dissidence in the Congress in Maharashtra flared up in the open with senior minister Narayan Rane on Friday targeting Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh saying he was "not happy" with the government's functioning, escalating the political battle over leadership change.
A state-of-the-art indoor cricket facility was inaugurated on Friday at Bandra-Kurla Complex at Mumbai Cricket Association Indoor Cricket Academy by BCCI and MCA President Sharad Pawar.
The SP leader's meeting comes in the backdrop of the Congress high command giving a cold shoulder to Rane's plea for removal of Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.