Shiv Sena Chief Bal Thackeray has equated nephew Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena with a carbon copy of the outfit he founded in 1966.
Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena on Thursday made its debut in the Maharashtra assembly, bagging two of the 60 seats in the House. The party, which made a deep dent in the Shiv Sena vote bank during the Lok Sabha polls, was leading in 14 other seats in the 288-member House. MNS candidate Mangesh Sangale won from Vikhroli in suburban Mumbai, defeating Nationalist Congress Party rival Pallavi Patil.
Wading into the ongoing Indian Premier League controversy, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Friday accused Union Minister and former BCCI chief Sharad Pawar for the mess in the Twenty20 league.
In the overcrowded local trains, auto-rickshaw stands, BEST buses and long queues at the Bandra-Worli sea link toll plaza, the staple language of Mumbai is Hindi, unlike most of the other cities of Maharashtra, where Marathi still dominates the public conversation domain.
The high-pitch campaign ended on Sunday in Maharashtra for the October 13 assembly elections which saw Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena fighting for the same political space and the ruling Congress-Nationalist Congress Party aiming a hat-trick.
From wearing oversized glasses to the oratory style and issues--Raj Thackeray is trying to emulate whatever his uncle Balasaheb Thackery and the Shiv Sena stood for. A perturbed Uddhav Thackeray, his cousin and son of Balasaheb, already called him "a contractor working on commission for the ruling Congress-Nationalist Congress Party combination because he fears that he might be put in a cage like a rat if NCP-Congress comes to power".
Karan Johar's latest production Wake Up Sid has come into trouble from the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena because the film used the word Bombay.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Thursday visited Shiv Sena president Bal Thackeray, undergoing treatment at Lilavati Hospital in suburban Bandra, hospital sources said.
The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Election Commission to allot a common symbol of 'Railway engine' to Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena for contesting the coming assembly elections in Maharashtra.
Speaking at a book release function on Wednesday in Mumbai, Thackeray said that it was Bhatt who had given false and misleading information to Chief Minister Ashok Chavan that lead to the filing of FIR against his party men. "I will show Mahesh Bhatt who I am the day he comes in my range," said Thackeray.
After his campaign against North Indians, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray on Monday asked English medium schools in the state to make Marathi a compulsory subject from first standard and shopowners to put up nameplates in Marathi in a month. The MNS chief also reiterated his appeal to Marathi officials to stop abetting 'outsiders' by issuing bogus domicile certificates and driving licences, saying these acts were rendering the state bankrupt.
According to Raj, north India has always looked down with contempt upon Maharashtra and if the draft notification of CMZ is implemented, development of Maharashtra and Mumbai in particular would be adversely affected.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Friday met Governor S C Jamir at Raj Bhavan in the backdrop of the attack on Mumbai University premises by MNS student activists.Jamir, in his capacity as chancellor of universities in the state, had summoned the MNS chief to discuss the ransacking of Mumbai university's registrar chamber over the issue of 'neglect' of Marathi students.
The state government in October last had moved the court seeking cancellation of bail of Raj granted in February by the Vikhroli metropolitan magistrate following his arrest in October after his supporters went on the rampage at several railway recruitment board job centres.
After attacking migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Raj Thackeray has now trained his guns at a growing number of North Indian students coming to Pune for higher education. "Pune, with its large number of reputed universities and institutions imparting higher education is attracting students from these states who are being given admissions on massive donations leaving in the lurch the deserving Marathi aspirants," he said.
Acting on a Jamshedpur court order, the Mumbai police on Monday arrested Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, who is accused of hurting religious sentiments and instigating violence.The MNS chief was arrested today morning by the Shivaji Park police and produced before the Dadar court, where he was granted bail of Rs 15,000, Raj's lawyer Shayaji Nangare told PTI.He was later released on bail.
The order came from first class judicial magistrate A K Tiwary when Thackeray failed to appear before the court on Thursday in connection with a petition by lawyer Hameed Raza Khan under sectioins 153 (rioting), 295 (hurting religious sentiments) and other relevant sections of the Indian PenalCode for the MNS leader's remarks against Chhatt festival earlier this year.
Member of Parliament Abu Asim Azmi has announced the setting up of a helpline for north Indians and proposed to start self-defence courses for migrants
HC raps Maharashtra government again over MNS violence. "Why no chargesheets have been filed against any of the offenders?" division bench of Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar and Justice S A Bobde asked. "Keep the senior officer in charge of the probe present in the court next Wednesday (December 10)," ordered the high court.
Citizens are finding cyberspace to be the best way to express their views on the grisly terror act and are not shying away from holding the country's politicians responsible for the situation.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Monday announced formation of two labour unions in the railways and aviation sector.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray, in limelight for 'hijacking' Shiv Sena's 'Marathi pride' agenda, today met his uncle and Sena chief Bal Thackeray, their first meeting since he left the Sena and launched MNS in 2006.
Two months after targetting north Indian migrants, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has raked up son-of-the soil issue demanding 80 per cent job reservation for Marathi-speaking locals in private sector and threatened to launch agitation if this was not done, drawing strong protest from the industries. The MNS also warned the industries that if this was not done then they would launch an agitation.
After investigations into the complaint filed on February 3, the police have concluded that there was not much substance in Amar Singh's claim, Deputy Commissioner of Police Brijesh Singh told PTI in Mumbai on Thursday night. Amar Singh, SP general secretary, had filed a complaint with the Azad Maidan Police Station after MNS activists disrupted a press conference by him in the area on February 2.
A local court in Jamshedpur has issued summons against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray for his remarks over Chatt festival leading to agitation in several parts of the country, including Bihar and Jharkhand. He has been asked to appear before the court on April 22. The court of first class judicial magistrate A K Tiwari issued the summons on Tuesday after examining witnesses Rajhans Tiwari, Sanjay Prasad and Niranjan Prasad (all lawyers).
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.
Under attack for his campaign against north Indians, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Friday softened his stand on Chhat puja, saying that he was not opposed to the festival being celebrated in Maharashtra but warned against it being used as a show of political strength.
The issue of 'Marathi pride' raised by Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has polarised the state politics and the ruling Congress-Nationalist Congress Party coalition can ill afford to ignore its emotive appeal in an election year.
Jagdish Prasad, father of Pawan Kumar, who was allegedly killed by MNS activists in Mumbai, filed a murder case against Raj Thackeray in the court of the chief judicial magistrate, Biharsharief, Nalanda. A court official told rediff.com that Jagdish Prasad has filed a case against Raj Thackeray under 302 of IPC.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Wednesday received support from unexpected quarters -- Maharashtra's Revenue Minister Narayan Rane who said the MNS leader's stance on Marathi issue was okay but the methods adopted by him weren't.
The Maharashtra government is tightening its noose on Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray as it filed four more cases at different places in the state against him.
Hundreds of slogan-shouting students descended on Barh railway station in Rural Patna demanding that Thackeray, who has been arrested, be tried for sedition, and set ablaze the coach of the Danapur-Durg South Bihar Express, Superintendent of Railway Police (Patna) D N Gupta said.
Hundreds of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena supporters were expected to gather outside the court to see their leader Raj Thackeray who will appear before it on Wednesday afternoon. The police resorted to cane charge on MNS supporters who were present in large numbers outside the court despite heavy police presence.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena Chief Raj Thackeray on Monday dared Maharashtra government to arrest him and warned the state will have to "regret" the consequences in the event of that.
The warrant against Thackeray for allegedly making derogatory remarks against members of the Bihari community, was brought to Mumbai by the Jamshedpur police and will be served on the MNS leader later in the week as Thackeray is presently out of the city, he said.
MNS, which launched its campaign against north Indian migrants last month, had issued advertisements in local newspapers asking unemployed Marathi youth to enroll with the party, which would provide them jobs in industrial units in Nashik.
It was a meeting to show solidarity with the laid-off Jet Airways staffers, but MNS chief Raj Thackeray's men turned it into a coaching class for Marathi.
Toughening his stand against migrants, specially north Indians, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Thursday indicated that his party would launch more intense agitation on the issue.
Azmi told journalists in Parliament House on the opening day of the budget session of Parliament that all those indulging in statements that disrupt the peaceful atmosphere of Parliament should be imprisoned for one year and their parties should be de-recognised by the Election Commission.
Tanushree Dutta has struck the first blow by declaring that no one supports the victims in the film industry.
