Tanushree Dutta has struck the first blow by declaring that no one supports the victims in the film industry.
After hijacking the Shiv Sena's Marathi agenda, MNS wants to sustain the campaign by offering free Marathi classes to the non-Marathis in the city. "Marathi is the official language of the state and non-Maharashtrians should at least know how to communicate in Marathi," MNS district president (South Mumbai) Arvind Gavade told PTI. The MNS is planning to start the classes from March. There will be three lectures per week and the number of lectures can be increased.
Lalu, who was in Ranchi to address the 'Chetna' rally organised by his party -- the Rashtriya Janata Dal -- made the comment when he was asked by newspersons about the alleged anti-north India statements by leaders of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.
The development sparked off speculation that the MNS chief might be arrested and produced before the court in Vikhroli in suburban Mumbai.
"The Home Ministry is providing central forces to the state government as requested by it. Rapid Action Force units are already positioned in Mumbai," a senior Home Ministry official said.
Media personnel trying to reach Thackeray's residence were told to wait several meters away.
The Bombay High Court on Thursday slammed the Maharashtra government for its handling of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's agitation about Marathi signboards."Why no action has been taken against respondent number six (Raj Thackeray)?....Are some people untouchable for you?" Justice Patel asked as the government failed to file a proper reply regarding the action taken.
Trouble had erupted in India's financial capital on February 3 when activists belonging to Samajwadi Party and MNS clashed over Raj Thackeray's controversial remarks against north Indians.
The octogenarian leader said he agreed with Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar that these tactics to gain free publicity should be ignored. Without naming Raj, Thackeray said 'chicken in state politics are suffering from bird flu of depression', and hence they have no value.
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.
Approximately 25 youths, suspected to be MNS members, attacked the office of the Mumbai Taximen's Union in Central Mumbai on Thursday morning. MNS workers have been targeting taxi drivers since the past few days, but the police are yet to confirm the perpetrators of today's attack. Union president A I Qadros had earlier said that the taxi drivers would go on strike if they were not compensated for the attacks.
With the Centre pressing the Maharashtra government to take immediate steps against those indulging in violence, the Mumbai police appealed to Raj to restrain the cadre of his party -- Maharashtra Navnirman Sena -- from further fuelling the campaign against north Indians.
Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, which won 13 of the 288 assembly seats in Maharashtra, has been recognised as a state party and will be allotted a permanent election symbol. The party contested the October 13 polls using the Railway Engine, a temporary symbol allotted to it by the commission. "As per our norms, a party, in order to be recognised as a state party, should win at least three per cent of the total number of seats in the House," said an EC official.
Shinde and Killary, along with MNS sympathiser Bala Nandgaonkar and other MNS activists, were picked up from Matunga in central Mumbai for instigating people and rioting, deputy commissioner of police Sunil Ramanand said.
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.
Amitabh Bachchan, who is away in Shimla for a film shoot, stays away from the controversy.
Following the footsteps of the MNS chief's call for 'Marathi pride', Soren publicly claimed on Sunday that Jharkhand remained the sole preserve of adivasis (tribals) and Moolvasis (original settlers).
Police said sensitive pockets, where trouble can erupt, are on high alert. Cinema theatres have also been provided security as one of the movie halls, showing a Bhojpuri film, was targeted on Saturday.
Amitabh Bachchan addressed a press conference on September 10 to clear the air about the controversy that erupted after his wife Jaya's comments at the Drona music launch. He also announced that his new film, The Last Lear, would release as per schedule this week despite Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Raj Thackeray calling for a ban on all Bachchan movies in Maharashtra.
Noted filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh talks about his first English film starring Amitbah Bachchan, Preity Zinta, Arjun Rampal and Shefali Shah, and the Jaya Bachchan controversy.
Earlier a summon was issued against Thackeray at his Mumbai residence by the court on April 19.
Maharasthtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray has stated that the party will not allow the release of films starring the Bachchans until Jaya Bachchan tenders an unconditional apology over her alleged anti-Marathi remarks.
The Maharashtra Navnirman Vidhyarthi Sena, the student wing of Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, on Wednesday condemned a United Kingdom newspaper which had reportedly referred to Ganesh festival as 'a festival of gays.'
A delegation of shop owners on Friday requested Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray to extend the deadline for Marathi signboards by three months. With festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi, Dusshera and Diwali round the corner, shop owners need some time to put up Marathi boards and change interior of the shops accordingly, they said.
Stepping up his campaign for Marathi signboards, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray warned shop owners, not putting up the boards by Thursday, to face the wrath of his men and asked police to think before lathi-charging his party workers. Raj said he has written a letter to the police, asking them to "think twice" before lathi-charging MNS activists involved in the agitation to enforce the civic body's deadline stipulating Marathi signboards on the city shops.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Shivaji Bhor was attacked by two unidentified persons near Chhatrapati Maharaj statue in Nashik, police said on Friday.
A day after Shiv Sena chief was admitted to Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai, his estranged nephew paid a visit to the hospital along wth his wife.
Alarmed by damage made by Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) in last Lok Sabha polls, the BJP has chalked out a campaign strategy which would focus on making people realise that voting MNS is akin to voting for Congress-NCP.
A court in Jamshedpur issued a non-bailable warrant against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray for failing to appear before it in a case regarding his alleged derogatory remarks on 'chat festival'.
Members of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena on Saturday celebrated the 40th birthday of their leader Raj Thackeray by organising blood donation camps and other social activities.However, the MNS refrained from holding a Hatt Puja programme, a take-off on the Chhat Puja performed by north Indians, which has become a bone of contention between MNS and migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.Over 20,000 supporters visited the MNS chief's home at Dadar and greeted their leader.
A Jamshedpur court on Friday issued an arrest warrant against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, the second such warrant by a Jharkhand court in the past one year, after he failed to appear in the court on Thursday in connection with a case of making allegedly provocative comments against members of a particular community about a year ago.On May 16, the Jharkhand high court directed the MNS chief to appear in the lower court in Jamshedpur on June 12.
'Uddhav has told the cops to crack down hard on the MNS agitation if MNS activists try to vitiate the communal harmony in the state.'
As soon as the House assembled for the day, SP members were up on their feet shouting slogans but Chairman Hamid Ansari asked the members to settle down as obituary references had to be made. The SP members raised slogans demanding arrest of Raj Thackeray and protection of the Constitution.
Accused of not doing enough for Maharashtra, Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan on Tuesday said nothing could stop him from staying in Mumbai even if those opposed to him "throw bottles at my house or paint my posters black or burn effigies".
Police harassed superstar Amitabh Bachchan and favoured people like Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, Samajwadi Party leader Abu Asim Azmi alleged on Friday. Azmi claimed Bachchan was forced to withdraw a case of attack on his bungalow in Mumbai during the anti-north Indian campaign led by the Raj's party.
The actor will next be seen in Karan Johar's directorial venture Ae Dil Hai Mushkil.
The auto sector in Pune, which houses production centres of the most prominent auto manufacturers in the country, says that 60-70 per cent of its labour is already local. They were reponding to the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray's call yesterday urging companies to reserve 80 per cent of all industrial jobs created for local Maharashtrians.
Two months after targetting north Indian migrants, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Raj Thackeray has raked up son-of-the soil issue demanding 80 per cent job reservation for Marathi-speaking locals in private sector.
The court refused to grant transit remand to the prosecution for Raj Thackeray to be producd in a Jamshedpur court.The Mazagon sessions court released Thackeray on personal bond of Rs 50,000.
A poster mocking actor Amitabh Bachchan on being part of the No-Honking Drive initiative of the Mumbai Traffic Police was put up in Mumbai on Wednesday. The poster -- Marathi -- bears the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena logo, Juhu residents said.
