A pall of gloom descended on Mira Road, a township in Maharashtra as people joined the last rites of martyred Indian soldier Major Kaustabh Rane, who was martyred in Jammu-Kashmir. He was among the four army personnel killed in a gunfight with terrorists near the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Bandipora district on Tuesday. His family, friends and residents showered flowers, raised slogans "Major Kaustubh Rane, Amar Rahe", "Vande Mataram" and "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" as a flower-laden army truck took him to the crematorium.
The rallies have evoked huge response, compelling all political parties to take note the grievances of the community, a dominant force in the state.
The 36 new ministers included 10 cabinet and four ministers of state (MoS) of the NCP, eight Cabinet and four MoS of the Sena, and eight Cabinet and two MoS of the Congress.
ED officials said the nine premises covered under the action included properties and offices belonging to Bhujbal, son Pankaj, nephew and former member of Parliament Samir and a few others.
In a sensational claim, a suspended Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad officer has told a Solapur court that two of the absconding accused in 2008 Malegaon blasts case are in fact dead but falsely shown as "alive" by high ranking police officers.
Raj Thackeray issued a statement on Monday, admitting that one of his local party workers had opposed Sahgal's presence at the literary meet.
In a stunning blow to the BJP on Wednesday, the party lost bypolls to all the three Lok Sabha seats it contested, including its bastion Gorakhpur, and Phulpur in Uttar Pradesh, besides Araria in Bihar.
Altogether 169 MLAs vote in favour of the motion of confidence, pro tem Speaker Dilip Walse Patil informed the House.
The ruling Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra clarified on Sunday that it had received no proposal from the Congress for a merger nor did it have any such plan in the run-up to the election to the 288-member state assembly slated for September-October.
Leading the charge, Congress president Rahul Gandhi tweeted that Bhagwat's remark insulted the Indian tricolour.
Police arrested four people for the assault on Wednesday.
Devendra Fadnavis will on Friday take oath as the 27th chief minister of maharashtra and the first from BJP in the state, at a grand function which Shiv Sena has decided to boycott because of "constant humiliation".
Debacle in four states prompts party to step up efforts to fare well in general elections, reports Sanjay Jog.
"We realised that we don't have the required numbers to form the government and we don't want to indulge in horse-trading," Fadnavis told reporters after announcing his decision.
Prasanna D Zore reports on the backroom drama accompanying the efforts to cobble together the next government in Maharashtra. 'While the Congress is insisting upon equal power sharing structure among all the three parties, the NCP is of the opinion that ministries should be distributed based on the number of MLAs belonging to each of the three parties.' Prasanna D Zore reports on the backroom room accompanying the efforts to cobble together the next government in Maharashtra.
With the BJP backing off from the race, the onus to form government now rests with the Sena, which has indicated that it might rope in the Congress and the NCP to prop up a government.
The Congress president also said that he was 'pretty confident' that Narendra Modi would not be the next prime minister.
The Nationalist Congress Party on Thursday attributed the drubbing the Congress-led UPA has received in polls mainly to the "communication deficit" on part of outgoing prime minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi and also to issues like hike in prices of fuel and LPG cylinders by the ruling dispensation.
The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd started hacking trees from Friday night to make way for a car shed, hours after the Bombay high court dismissed four petitions filed by NGOs and activists challenging the decision to allow felling of trees in the prime green lung of the city.
The opposition Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party, however, said on Thursday the Fadnavis government was not serious in addressing the situation and the belated move was only meant to avoid judicial action.
The Shiv Sena passed a resolution not to align with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi said that the 'opportunistic BJP-PDP alliance' set fire to Jammu and Kashmir, killing many innocent civilians and brave soldiers, and that the damage would continue even if the state was put under central rule.
As Bharatiya Janata Party prepared to elect the leader of its legislature party on Tuesday who will be the party's first chief minister of Maharashtra, Shiv Sena appeared resigned to backing it in government formation but there was no clarity yet on whether it will join the ministry.
Rane accused the Congress of reneging on its promise of making him the CM after he joined the party 12 years ago.
Under pressure from political and other outfits, Bollywood film producers have announced that they will not engage with Pakistani artistes, clearing decks for the smooth release of Karan Johar's 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' as the MNS withdrew its threat to stall the screening.
'All appointments are from one family. And this is the fundamental difference between the Congress and the BJP'
The results will be declared on July 20 in New Delhi.
The Maharashtra government dillydallied for over seven years to pass the anti-superstition and black magic bill, and it took the murder of rationalist Dr Narendra Dabholkar, who tirelessly pushed for the bill, to goad it into passing it through the ordinance route at its cabinet meeting on Wednesday as a tribute to him
She said she will go to Ayodhya on Wednesday and visit the makeshift temple to seek Ram Lalla's blessings.
The sanction of Rs 8 lakh from Maharashtra Chief Minister's Relief Fund for a dance troupe's visit to Thailand has sparked a row with the opposition questioning the BJP-led government's "priorities" at a time when the state is reeling under severe drought.
As Maharashtra's main political players, the Congress-nationalist Congress Party alliance and Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena combine, brace for the Lok Sabha and subsequent state assembly polls this year, they would have to contend with a new opponent, the Aam Aadmi Party, which has decided to take the electoral plunge in a big way.
Maharashtra's dance bars may soon spring back to life with the Supreme Court on Thursday staying the operation of a state law banning it on the condition that performances will not be obscene even as the government said it will press for continuance of the ban.
Rangoon haunts in unlikely fashion and, while the director's most straightforward picture, holds enough of its own marvels to justify multiple viewings,' notes Raja Sen.
The opposition has attacked the Modi government over the National Democratic Alliance's last full-fledged budget before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Aditya Thackeray may want Mumbai's shops and restaurants to remain open 24x7 but the Maharashtra government won't be okaying it in a hurry, says Neeta Kolhatkar.
What happened to us should not happen to anyone else in future. A strong message has to be sent by our judicial system that such acts will not be dealt with lightly," said one of the victim's father.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances