Pawar on Wednesday visited the Congress office in Pune for the first time after he quit the Grand Old Party 23 years ago.
Police scoured places of worship in Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain and Khandwa in their hunt for the third shooter wanted for Nationalist Congress Party leader Baba Siddique's killing.
The motive behind the killing was yet to be ascertained and various angles were being investigated, including the alleged link to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, according to police.
Shinde was reportedly not happy as he had to cede the top post to the ally BJP, and was reluctant to take the deputy CM post.
Defying predictions of his political eclipse, Nationalist Congress Party chief Ajit Pawar has not only consolidated his position in the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti, but also fortified his place in Maharashtra politics by becoming deputy chief minister for the sixth time.
An impressive performance in Jharkhand and, especially, Maharashtra assembly polls next month by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance will lay to rest the doubts over the party's political dominance after its underwhelming performance in the Lok Sabha polls and strike a body blow to the Opposition.
The two-day deliberations, which will be held at Grand Hyatt in the suburbs, will begin in the evening of August 31 and from 10am on September 1. The meeting will be followed by a press conference, Raut informed.
Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole claimed Thackeray had selected a candidate finalised by Congress for the Nashik Teachers' constituency without consulting coalition partners.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday assured his government will continue the Ladki Bahin Yojana and fulfil Mahayuti's pre-poll promise of hiking the monthly stipend under the scheme to Rs 2,100 from Rs 1,500 now to eligible women.
Raut said that the victory of the Congress in Karnataka has opened a door for the party in the whole country and the election results show that dictatorship has been defeated.
'I do not know why he went to Delhi because I have not been in touch with him for months now and I would not be able to give an answer why he visited Delhi'
Three policemen have been suspended for alleged negligence in duty, taking cognisance of videos in which a sharpshooter of Lawrence Bishnoi gang interacts with reporters while in police custody and comments on Nationalist Congress Party leader Baba Siddique's killing, officials said on Saturday.
Ahead of the crucial legislature party meeting scheduled for Wednesday, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Devendra Fadnavis met with caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday, the first in-person meeting since their discussions in Delhi last week for government formation.
When it comes to the Congress and Wayanad, the only way the scepticism in the minds of some in Kerala may be addressed is by the Gandhi family proving that they are more than a passing caravan in town, reports Shyam G Menon.
Shubham Lonkar, the mastermind and wanted accused in Nationalist Congress Party leader Baba Siddique's murder had allegedly planned the murder of Aftab Poonawala, the accused arrested in the gruesome Shraddha Walker murder case, sources said.
The total number of arrests in the sensational case now stands at nine, while three key persons are on the run.
The trigger for the stone pelting incident was not yet known, he said, adding further details were awaited.
The name of the Maharashtra chief minister will be announced on Wednesday, a day ahead of the swearing-in ceremony of the Mahayuti government, after the Bharatiya Janata Party elects its legislature party leader, a senior functionary said on Monday.
Maharashtra's outgoing Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday said the Bharatiya Janata Party will decide on the new CM and assured his full support while ruling out differences among Mahayuti allies over the government formation.
Shivkumar Gautam, the alleged main shooter in the Baba Siddique murder case, remained at the spot for 20 minutes after the Nationalist Congress Party leader was gunned down on October 12, an official said on Thursday.
The massive victory of Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti in Maharashtra indicates a tactical course correction post the Lok Sabha debacle, with factors like Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's active role in the poll campaign, Ladki Bahin scheme, rise in women voting, and subtle message of Hindutva playing a crucial role.
'I think what Rahul Gandhi has done has also been very impressive because there was a point where people were disrespecting things he was saying and things he was doing. And I think he's turned that around by working very hard, in a very interesting way'
The conspiracy to kill Nationalist Congress Party leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique was hatched in Pune and shooters were provided with a photo and a flex banner for the target identification, police said on Monday.
Gurnail and another alleged shooter Dharmaraj Kashyap were arrested immediately after the attack, whereas their accomplice Shivkumar Gautam managed to flee.
'If you want to have fair elections you should have an officer, who is appointed as per the rules laid down for such appointments, which is based on seniority.'
NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar has thrown his weight behind villagers in Solapur, Maharashtra, who are demanding a repoll using ballot papers after raising doubts about the accuracy of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). Pawar met with villagers in Markadwadi, where a police case was filed against over 200 people for attempting to conduct an unauthorized re-election. He expressed support for their concerns, claiming that the villagers were "the ones who thought of conducting polls using ballot papers." Pawar criticized the police action, calling it a restriction on the villagers' right to assemble and vowing to raise the issue with the Chief Minister, the state Chief Electoral Officer, the Prime Minister, and the Election Commission of India.
Amid talks of cross-voting, three of the 37 Congress MLAs in Maharashtra skipped a meeting called by the party ahead of the legislative council polls on Friday.
The 10-day-old BJP-led Mahayuti alliance ministry in Maharashtra was expanded on Sunday, with 39 ministers being sworn in, taking its strength to 42. The BJP secured 19 ministerial berths, followed by 11 for the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and 9 for Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party. Governor P C Radhakrishnan administered the oath to the new ministers at the ceremony held in Nagpur. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and deputy CMs Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar were present.
According to a police official, they have come across a viral post on social media in the name of an alleged member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang claiming responsibility for Baba Siddique's murder.
'Unlike in the sporting arena, where sports federations moved from partisan to impartial referees, in Indian democracy's biggest festival, it appears we are moving backward from unbiased and objective to one-sided and partisan,' observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday said the state assembly polls are expected to be held in the second week of November and seat-sharing among the ruling allies would be finalised in the next 8 to 10 days.
Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar on Monday said there was no confusion within the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance over his meeting with nephew and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in Pune.
'I am saying this in my case only. If I do not cut the weight properly then how will I play? I am there to win a medal and that is what I think.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party suffered a setback in Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra on Tuesday, with its tally dwindling by less than half compared to 2019, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi of Congress, Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray and the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar was on a roll, pocketing 30 of the 48 seats.
'This is becoming the new normal. Accountability of @AshwiniVaishnaw ji is zero. The GOI has no answers whatsoever'
India would have won the cricket World Cup if the final match was played in Kolkata or Mumbai, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed on Thursday.
The respective Dussehra rallies of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and and Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief Uddhav Thackeray were once again about whose version of Hindutva is genuine and who is the true inheritor of party patriarch Bala Thackeray's legacy.
The Opposition had promised to scrap the Dharavi redevelopment project if it came to power. With the Mahayuti's massive mandate in the Maharashtra assembly election, that prospect has been laid to rest.
Raising the issue in the legislative council, Leader of Opposition Ambadas Danve said the control of police should be under the state government.
Chavan said the Mahayuti and BJP's policy was Viksit Bharat and Viksit Maharashtra, as spelt out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
