Former Union minister Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said that there is no need for the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) to declare a chief ministerial face ahead of the state assembly elections.
A ruling Shiv Sena leader has predicted a "major political earthquake" in Maharashtra on January 23, the birth anniversary of Shiv Sena founder late Bal Thackeray, claiming that 10 to 15 MLAs from the opposition Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT) will switch sides and join the party led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. The prediction comes amidst reports of discontent within the ruling coalition in the state.
The meeting in New Delhi etc is just the BJP being nice to the man who helped it realise its dream by stabbing Uddhav in the back, notes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'I had told Fadnavisji that I will be with the party till the Lok Sabha election and I will give my 100 per cent to campaign for the BJP. But ultimately I will have to take this decision (to quit the BJP).' 'When I requested him to see this from the point of view of an elder brother, he could not say anything more after that.'
One should not allow politics to enter home, Pawar, who is currently on a statewide 'Jan Samman Yatra', told Marathi news channel Jai Maharashtra.
The cabinet expansion of the Devendra Fadnavis-led Maharashtra government is likely to take place by December 14, a senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader said on Wednesday.
Sharad Pawar said everyone has a place in the "house".
Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde on Tuesday stepped down as Maharashtra chief minister, even as the suspense over who will succeed him as the new CM continued, three days after state assembly election results were announced.
The ruling Mahayuti is poised to retain power in Maharashtra with the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) also putting up a strong show in assembly polls, most exit polls predicted on Wednesday after conclusion of polling on 288 seats in the state. Jharkhand is likely to see a change of government with BJP-led National Democratic Alliance coming to power in the state, three exit polls said on Wednesday with one poll giving majority to the ruling JMM-led alliance.
Walmik Karad, an aide to Maharashtra Nationalist Congress Party minister Dhananjay Munde, was on Tuesday charged under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) and remanded to 14 days of judicial custody in an extortion case allegedly linked to the murder of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh.
Police have launched a probe into the killing of former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique from different angles, including a possible contract killing, business rivalry or threat over a slum rehabilitation project, officials said on Sunday.
The indecision of the then Maharashtra governor on the state government's recommendation to appoint 12 persons as MLCs is 'quite disturbing', the Bombay high court has said.
The crime branch named 29 accused in the 4,590-page charge sheet, including 26 already arrested and three wanted persons, including Anmol Bishnoi, the brother of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi.
Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday came to the Y B Chavan Centre to meet NCP functionaries for the second consecutive day after announcing his decision to step down as the party chief.
But the atmosphere is now conducive for the Mahayuti to continue in power in Maharashtra thanks to the government's people-centric schemes, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is giving promises that it cannot execute, he said.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who heads the Nationalist Congress Party, has said that helming the NCP away from the shadows of his uncle and founder Sharad Pawar after the split is a huge responsibility.
Hours after an offer made by Nationalist Congress Party's state president P C Chacko, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor made it clear that he is not going to the party.
Thackeray said that the MNS will contest more seats than any other party.
Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar leader Rohit Pawar on Friday alleged 25-30 Bharatiya Janata Party workers at midnight tried to enter the strong room where electronic voting machines (EVMs) of Karjat-Jamkhed constituency, from where he contested, are kept.
A total of 4,140 candidates were left in the fray for 288 Maharashtra assembly seats after the deadline for withdrawal of nominations ended on Monday, a poll official said.
Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar chief Sharad Pawar stood up when he came face to face with his estranged nephew and Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar at an official meeting in Pune on Saturday.
The Mumbai Crime Branch has arrested a Gujarat resident from Akola in Maharashtra in connection with the murder of NCP leader Baba Siddique, taking the total number of arrests in the case to 25. Salmanbhai Iqbalbhai Vohra, a resident of Petlad in Gujarat's Anand district, was arrested from Balapur in Akola. The 66-year-old NCP leader was gunned down on October 12 near his MLA son Zeeshan Siddique's office in Bandra East's Nirmal Nagar area. Vohra is alleged to have provided financial support to some of the accused in the case, including the brother of arrested accused Gurmail Singh.
Devendra Fadnavis, a seasoned politician with deep roots in the RSS, is set to become the Chief Minister of Maharashtra for the third time, after his party, the BJP, won a landslide victory in the state assembly elections. Fadnavis' political journey has been marked by resilience and strategic maneuvering, as he has navigated through challenging times, including political upheavals and controversies.
Asked to whom the demand was made, Gogavale said it was probably Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The respect for the four-time former chief minister, often referred to as Saheb, in his stronghold of western Maharashtra is palpable in much of the region. But his estranged nephew also appears to enjoy a stature of his own in Baramati, a constituency represented by the senior Pawar for six terms before he passed the baton to Ajit Pawar in 1991.
Jarange has repeatedly targeted the BJP warning that the community would defeat its candidates in the assembly polls, which will be held on November 20.
Police are examining the past records of the arrested men in the sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh murder case and a related case of extortion to decide if the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) should be invoked, sources said on Thursday. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said he had requested senior lawyer Ujjwal Nikam to appear as a special prosecutor in the murder case. The Crime Investigation Department (CID) has sought old case papers and chargesheets against the arrested men. Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village in Beed, was abducted and brutally killed on December 9, allegedly for opposing an extortion bid by some persons who had demanded money from a windmill company. Beed Police has put up posters seeking information about whereabouts of three wanted accused in the murder case. CM Fadnavis said he spoke to BJP MLA from Beed, Suresh Dhas who demanded that Nikam be appointed as special public prosecutor in the case. Nikam was a special public prosecutor in several high-profile cases, including the 26/11 terror attacks and 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts. Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar claimed that "smaller fish" could be killed in fake encounters to save the "big fish" involved in the Deshmukh murder and extortion cases. Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra legislative council Ambadas Danve said the trial in the case should be conducted outside Beed district. NCP leader Dhananjay Munde, who has come under fire after the alleged involvement of his aide Karad in the extortion matter came to light, said those who murdered Santosh Deshmukh should be tried in a fast-track court and "hanged till death." The government on Wednesday set up a 10-member SIT to probe the case, headed by Deputy Inspector General -CID Basavraj Teli.
In the past, Thackeray has expressed disappointment claiming "delay in the disqualification" of rebel Shiv Sena MLAs led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde after the Bal Thackeray-founded party split in June 2022.
He clarified that Siddique was provided a non-categorised security and was allotted three police constables.
"More voters were added in Maharashtra in five months between the Lok Sabha and assembly polls than in five years," the former Congress president said.
With this decision, Malik will be left with no portfolio in the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
Ahead of the Maharashtra assembly polls, the Election Commission on Monday directed the state government to transfer Director General of Police Rashmi Shukla with immediate effect following complaints from political parties, including the Congress, sources said.
A Mumbai court on Monday remanded the third person arrested for the killing of Nationalist Congress Party leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique to police custody till October 21.
'As a grand alliance, we contested the election together and are still together today'
Shiv Sena MLA Narendra Bhondekar has resigned from all party posts after expressing disappointment at not being included in the Maharashtra cabinet. Bhondekar, who was the Shiv Sena's deputy leader and co-ordinator for eastern Vidarbha districts, claimed his party head and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had promised him a cabinet berth. He said he intended to secure a cabinet post to become the guardian minister of Bhandara district, but he will now serve as an ordinary party worker.
Nationalist Congress Party MLA Saroj Ahir from Nasik district attended the Maharashtra state assembly's winter session in Nagpur with her new-born baby on Monday.
Pawar will not restrict himself to the Rashtrapati Bhavan," the minister from the NCP said.
In doing so, it further cemented the community's determination to support the opposition. But at the same time, it consolidated its Hindu vote bank like never before.
Gangster Anmol Bishnoi had ordered the hit on Nationalist Congress Party leader Baba Siddique for his 'association with Dawood Ibrahim and involvement in the 1993 Bombay blasts', alleged main shooter Shivkumar Gautam in his confessional statement to the police.
'We pressurised him (to accept the deputy chief ministership).' 'Being out of power would have made him weaker.'
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances