"Sharad Pawar's presence has extraordinary importance when a new battle for freedom is going on in the country to save the Constitution and democracy, and in such a situation, Pawar should not step aside," he said.
As suspense over who will become the next Chief Minister of Maharashtra continues, Nationalist Congress Party leader Chhagan Bhujbal on Sunday backed his party's chief, Ajit Pawar, for the top post.
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.
In a ghastly incident that has sent shock waves across Bihar, former state minister Mukesh Sahni's 70-year-old father was found stabbed to death at his native home in Darbhanga district, a top police officer said.
Kayande claimed she waited for a year to see if the Thackeray-led faction would introspect over why party workers were leaving Shiv Sena-UBT.
The meeting took place days after Pawar said that he would discuss with the chief minister the issues of soaring onion prices and flood relief package from the Centre.
The complainant alleged that Darekar posed as a labourer, which was later found wrong.
Pawar, who joined the Shinde government earlier this month, was allocated the same portfolio once again, raising questions as to how the Sena MLAs react.
Thackeray, who is currently not a member of either of the Houses of state Legislature, was not present at the Cabinet meeting where the decision was taken.
The Maharashtra legislative assembly on Friday passed a bill empowering local tree authorities to allow the felling of all types of trees without referring matters to the State Tree Authority.
While the Shinde-led Shiv Sena will organise its event at NESCO ground in Goregaon in northwest Mumbai, the Shiv Sena-UBT will hold its event in Shanmukhanand Hall at Sion in central Mumbai.
'Our numbers were less (than BJP's) but PM Narendra Modi blessed us. Modi Saheb told me before the swearing-in that he will extend all possible help to me. Amit Shah Saheb said he will stand behind us like a rock,' Shinde said. 'But the biggest kalakar (artist) is this one,' Shinde said, pointing to Fadnavis sitting to his right on the treasury benches.
While guests who had arrived earlier are leaving one by one, sources revealed that the hotel, situated on Dumas Road of the diamond city, has stopped accepting new bookings for an indefinite period.
Sudhakar Badgujar, the leader in question, denied the allegations while speaking at a news conference in Nashik.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies on Tuesday welcomed the Union Budget and said it focussed on youth, farmers, women, and has 'substantial allocations' for Maharashtra, but the opposition slammed the annual financial statement, claiming it neglected the western state and only seeks to please the saffron outfit's partners in Bihar and Andhra Pradesh.
An MLA from Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena faction and a legislator of the Nationalist Congress Party virtually came to blows in the Vidhan Bhavan premises in Mumbai on Wednesday after shouting slogans against each other.
The MNS, which has one MLA, had backed the Bharatiya Janata Party in the last month's elections to the Rajya Sabha as well as state Legislative Council seats.
The visit of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who was to attend a crucial Bharatiya Janata Party meeting in Mumbai on Monday, has been deferred.
Leaders at an all-party meeting on Maratha quota chaired by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday passed a resolution asking activist Manoj Jarange to call off his indefinite fast.
'If the BJP doesn't want to accept the will of the people, then we will show them what a majority means.'
If Maratha activist Manoj Jarange Patil drops a hint of supporting or opposing a particular coalition on the eve of polling on November 20, things may change overnight.
Nearly 4,800 elected MPs and MLAs will vote on Monday to elect the 15th President of India, with National Democratic Alliance candidate Droupadi Murmu having a clear edge over Opposition's Yashwant Sinha as over 60 per cent votes are expected to be cast in her favour.
'If someone fiddles us on our religion then we will pay back five times more to that person. We have proved that time and again.'
Contestant Sudhakar Adbale, supported by the MVA, won the Nagpur teachers constituency defeating his closest rival Nagorao Ganar, a BJP-backed independent and the sitting MLC from the seat, they said.
Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has tested positive for Covid-19.
In the coming assembly election, negotiations over seat-sharing will be as important as actual outreach to voters.
The ruling Shiv Sena in Maharashtra on Thursday said the state cabinet's expansion and allocation of portfolios are most likely to happen on July 14, but the rival faction of the party said it doubts the MLAs belonging to the Eknath Shinde-led camp would be accommodated in the new ministry.
Members of the Legislative Council asked how some former legislators could enter the Vidhan Bhavan premises amid COVID-19-related restrictions and sought a report on the matter.
In a jolt to the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance in Maharashtra, the Bharatiya Janata Party won four of the six seats in the state legislative council, including Nagpur, and wrested the Akola-Buldhana-Washim seat from the Shiv Sena.
The US said the removal of the ban on the Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Falah-i-Insaniyat Foundation would jeopardise Pakistan's ability to meet its commitments to fight terrorism.
In his letter to Ajit Pawar, who too is a deputy CM, Fadnavis said Malik has the right to attend the assembly as an MLA and added that "we (the BJP) do not harbour any personal animosity or grudge" against him.
Even as the two parties appeared confident that they have reached out to every voter and publicised their new symbols, experts suggested varying impact of the split and the symbols on the vote bank.
A substantial number of castes and groups are already placed in the reserved category, getting about 52 per cent of reservations altogether. It would be completely inequitable to place the Maratha community in the Other Backward Class (OBC) category, it said.
A dozen ministers will take oath at Tuesday's ceremony, scheduled at Raj Bhavan at 11 am.
Shiv Sena spokesman Rahul Narvekar, who recently withdrew his candidature from the Maharashtra Legislative Council elections, today joined the Nationalist Congress Party and will contest the Lok Sabha polls on the party's ticket from the Maval constituency.
A meeting of the joint committee of Parliament on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill on Friday witnessed fireworks with members vociferously opposing certain provisions of the draft legislation, leading to a brief walkout by opposition members.
Amid political turmoil in Maharashtra following a revolt by Shiv Sena minister Eknath Shinde, six members of legislative assembly (MLAs) and a member of legislative council (MLC) from the neighbouring state arrived in Gujarat's Surat city on Thursday and were later flown to Guwahati in Assam, where party rebels are camping, in two chartered flights, sources said.
The Maharashtra government expects to collect a revenue of Rs 1.52 crore (Rs 15.2 million) from four major malls inthe city which failed to submit stamp duty papers on time.
The rebel legislators have been maintaining that they were forced to go against Thackeray as he kept ignoring their plea to snap ties with the MVA allies despite being told that these constituents were trying to 'finish off' the Sena.
Ajit Pawar was earlier sworn in as deputy chief minister in the Eknath Shinde government, while eight others, including Walse Patil and Bhujbal, were made ministers, the developments coming after a vertical split in the NCP.
