Sheela Bhatt reports on the tortuous negotiations to form a Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government in Maharashtra.
They have already prepared a draft common minimum programme (CMP).
With almost all opposition parties and several trade unions backing the 'Bharat Bandh' and many announcing parallel protests in support of the farmers, the Centre has issued an advisory directing all the states and Union Territories to tighten security and ensure COVID guidelines are followed.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Thursday scotched speculation about any threat to his position after a meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi. "All is well. I am satisfied," he said after the meeting, the first after the defeat of the NCP-Congress candidate in the Thane Lok Sabha bypoll.
Thackeray, 59, became the third Sena leader after Manohar Joshi and Narayan Rane to occupy the top post.
'I want to thank Sonia ji also. Parties with different ideologies have come together...those who were friends for 30 years, did not trust us. But those against whom we fought for 30 years have trusted me,' Thackeray said.
Sheela Bhatt reveals how the BJP and Amit Shah have halted -- for now -- the Shiv Sena's dream of forming a government in Maharashtra.
'Over the years he has been getting a feeling of being sidelined by his uncle.'
"We will keep an eye on the situation in Maharashtra. Congress and NCP leaders will hold further talks on the future course of action," he added.
'If we have to join the government we will have to first decide upon the CMP.' 'Nothing can be decided without having a CMP first.'
Talking to reporters in Kolhapur, Pawar said it was not right on the part of the Centre to hand over the probe into the case, which was with the Pune police, to the NIA as law and order was a state subject. NCP leader and Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said Uddhav Thackeray had overruled him on the probe in the case.
Though authorities and NGOs have made arrangements for their food, most of them want to go back to their native places to escape the hardship brought by the sweeping curbs.
The Supreme Court directed that the voting in the assembly will not be on the basis of secret ballot and the entire proceeding will have to be telecast live.
By ditching his uncle, the towering Sharad Pawar, and taking his party to the verge of a split, has Ajit Pawar over-reached? asks N Suresh.
The dramatic swearing-in of BJP's Devendra Fadnavis as chief minister and Pawar's nephew Ajit Pawar as his deputy was preceded by days of talks between key party leaders and the junior Pawar, who was facing probe in corruption cases being investigated by central agencies.
By ending the Shiv Sena's political untouchability, the Congress is creating a level playing ground for itself in the political battle of Hindu identity, explains Sheela Bhatt.
Nirupam impressed upon the PM the need for a inquiry into the shares matter given the fact that the telecom ministry under Mahajan and later changed rules almost daily to suit a particular player.
Besides late Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray and former prime minister Indira Gandhi, NCP president Sharad Pawar also figured in the posters.
A bench of Justices N V Ramana, Ashok Bhushan and Sanjiv Khanna also issued notices to the Centre and Maharashtra government on a petition filed by the Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress combine against the Maharashtra governor's decision to swear in Fadnavis as chief minister.
'Dr Abdullah is the oldest and tallest leader in our current political landscape and it was very kind of him to come and see us.'
The Congress protested vociferously both inside and outside Parliament on Monday against the political developments in Maharashtra as it stalled proceedings and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of "murdering democracy" in the state.
In an indication of a possible post-poll understanding with Shiv Sena, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that BJP could consider joining hands again with its estranged ally if the situation so demanded.
The 15-year-old Congress-Nationalist Congress Party alliance in Maharashtra broke up on Thursday with the regional party deciding to contest next month's assembly polls on its own and pulling out of the government, setting the stage for its fall.
The Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana has joined the saffron alliance in Maharashtra. Will the votes it brings to the table loosen the political hold of the entrenched Maratha-dominated sugar barons of the NCP-Congress in western Maharashtra?
If the Bhima Koregaon commission is terminated before completing its work, the people affected by the violence 'would feel cheated'.
The BJP has been inducting leaders from the NCP and the Congress since the last few months to expand its footprint in the regions where the party lacks organisational base.
A right wing organisation on opposed the reservation for Marathas and Muslims approved by the Maharashtra Cabinet.
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.
'Modi underestimated Pawar.'
'Modi wants to go down in history not necessarily as India's first overtly Hindu RSS pracharak prime minister, but as a world statesman who built the idea of India as a great nation.'
'In UP, the CM actually announced that his administration would 'take revenge' against rioters.' 'That must have been music to his police force's ears for it substantiated what the police always do: Take revenge on an entire community for the violence of a few,' points out Jyoti Punwani.
Even as the Maharashtra government claims it is implementing in phases the Ram Pradhan committee report, which examined the government's response to the 26/11 terror attacks, gaping holes still exist in the security apparatus.
'When it is an open ballot, the division taking place in the open house will be for all to see.' 'As they say sunlight is the best disinfectant, this (aspect of the order) brings in transparency and it's in keeping with the best democratic principles.'
With an eye on assembly elections after severe drubbing in Lok Sabha polls, the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government on Wednesday approved 16 per cent reservation for Marathas and five per cent for Muslims in government jobs and education institutions.
With an eye on upcoming assembly elections after the drubbing in Lok Sabha polls, Maharashtra's Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government will take a decision next week on the Rane committee's recommendation for 20 per cent quota for Marathas in government jobs and educational institutions.
With hours to go for the results to be out in one of the most keenly-watched assembly elections in Maharashtra, major parties are keeping their cards close to the chest as most exit polls projected a hung House.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena were on Sunday trying to make last ditch efforts to salvage their alliance in Maharashtra for the upcoming Assembly polls after the Uddhav Thackeray's final offer of giving 119 seats to the coalition partner was rejected.
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