Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar arrived in Mumbai on Saturday evening to attend centenary celebrations of his state, a day after Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray withdrew his threat to disrupt the event slated for Sunday.
Hazare began his fast on January 30 at his native Ralegan Siddhi village in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, demanding appointment of anti-corruption watchdogs at the Centre and in Maharashtra and resolution of farmers' issues.
Bihar Diwas celebration is a socio-cultural event, it has nothing to do with politics, says Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. M I Khan reports
They are political rivals, but when it comes to celebrating Bihar Diwas in Mumbai, Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal has backed Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and has urged him to ignore Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's threat. The impending visit on April 15 has become controversial in Maharashtra.
After Nitish Kumar's statement that nobody can stop him from visiting Mumbai to attend Bihar's centenary celebrations here rubbed Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena the wrong way, the organisers on Thursday clarified the event is purely socio-cultural and has no political overtones.
Maharashtra Navirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Thursday condemned the attack on Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and said the Prime Minister and not Pawar should be blamed for price rise.
Two days after the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray announced a state-wide 'rasta roko' on Wednesday to protest against toll collection in the state, police on Tuesday served a notice to him asking the leader to refrain from any activity that would create law and order problems.
The verbal duel between Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Raj Thackeray reached a new crescendo on Thursday, with the Nationalist Congress Party leader challenging the latter to prove allegations of corruption against him.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Thursday said if north Indian-origin leaders in Mumbai did not stop making inflammatory statements, there would be "riots".
At least half a dozen toll plazas were vandalised on Monday by suspected Maharashtra Navnirman Sena activists in Thane after party chief Raj Thackeray asked workers not to pay toll tariff and "crush" the toll gates.
Irked over Shiv Sena's tirade against him over his remarks on north Indians, Congress MP Sanjay Nirupam on Thursday dared the Thackerays to move around without any security cover.
Days after we introduced you to the other side of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray's, now its time to feast your eyes on photographs clicked by his cousin and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray.
Congress-Nationalist Congress Party combine's bid to wrest control of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation on Friday appeared coming to a naught with the country's richest civic body's ruling Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance set to emerge as the largest bloc.
Mumbaikars can finally heave a sigh of relief. They will be able to celebrate this Valentine's Day in peace, as both Bal Thackeray and his nephew are busy campaigning for the crucial elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. The Shiv Sena, led by Bal Thackeray, and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, led by Raj Thackeray, have in the past been infamous for coming down heavily against young couples celebrating Valentine's Day, which they think is a Western concept.
Purohit had allegedly said in the sting video that there is no collective leadership in the BJP. Only two people take decisions and others merely implement it.
Taking potshots at estranged cousin and Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray's penchant for photography, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Monday said the former should concentrate on shooting the many potholes that dot the city. "Instead of shooting animals in other states, it would be better if one (read Uddhav) photographs potholes here. Then they would realise the shoddy state of affairs, all their doing," said Thackeray.
'Please do not threaten us with street violence.' 'Do you have some humanity left in you?'
In a setback for the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, the Bombay high court on Thursday refused to grant permission to the Raj Thackeray-led party to conduct a 'Marathi Food Festival' from May 3-10 at Shivaji Park in Mumbai.
Lauding the developmental work undertaken by Nitish Kumar in Bihar after he took over as chief minister, Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray on Saturday took a dig at his estranged nephew Maharashta Navnirman Sena President Raj Thackeray for opposing Kumar's visit to Mumbai and then back-tracking.
Check out the star arrivals.
Estranged Thackeray cousins -- Shiv Sena Executive President Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray participated -- though not together -- in a morcha for the cause of textile mill workers in Mumbai on Thursday.
Estranged Thackeray cousins -- Shiv Sena Executive President Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray participated -- though not together -- in a morcha for the cause of textile mill workers in Mumbai on Thursday.
The estranged Thackeray cousins -- Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray -- are going to walk together in a march for the cause of out-of-job textile mill workers in Mumbai. Several associations of textile industry workers, thousands of whom became jobless after prolonged strikes in early 1990s and afterwards, have organised a protest march on July 28 to press for their demands of rehabilitation.
Transcending ideological barriers, political parties in Bihar on Friday slammed Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray for his reported statement that influx of North Indians was one of the reasons for growing terror attacks in Mumbai.
Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena looks all set to get its candidate elected as Mayor of Nashik with likely support from Bharatiya Janata Party.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Monday held the Nehru-Gandhi family "responsible" for the lack of development in Uttar Pradesh.
In a major relief for Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, Bombay high court on Tuesday quashed a 2008 case registered against him for delivering a speech against north-Indians which allegedly led to violence in the city.
Election to the 122-member Nashik municipal corporation has thrown a hung house, but indications are that the new ruling disposition may be either a Maharashtra Navnirman Sena-Nationalist Congress Party combine or MNS-Bharatiya Janata Party tie-up.
In a huge embarrassment to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar, the United Progressive Alliance has lost the Khadakwasla assembly seat which had witnessed a by-election on October 13.
In a blow to the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's apparent attempt to score brownie points over its arch rival Shiv Sena, the Bombay high court on Friday refused to grant permission to the Raj Thackeray-led party to hold a public meeting at Shivaji Park in central Mumbai.
A day after Maharahstra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray warned that arrogant auto rickshaw unions would attract public ire, reports of attacks on auto rickshaws have been surfacing from different parts of Mumbai.
Raj Thackeray and the MNS protested against tolls in Maharashtra to demonstrate that it still has political clout, says Neeta Kolhatkar.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has strongly objected to linking Bihar with the terrorists involved in 13/7 serial blasts in Mumbai.
Shalini Thackeray, general secretary, Chitrapat Karmachari Sena, the cine wing of Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, told rediff.com that the MNS is not targeting ABCL chairman Amitabh Bachchan in its bid to strengthen its position for the upcoming civic polls in Mumbai in 2012.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday remained unfazed over the reported threat by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena to disallow Bihar divas celebrations in Mumbai, saying no one can stop him from attending the event and he did not require a "visa" to travel there.
Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray has said that he does not give importance to the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, started by cousin Raj Thackeray, and neither do the people.
The Mumbai police believe that while selecting a crowded area in the vicinity of Kabutarkhana and Shiv Sena headquarters in Dadar for triggering blasts, the terrorists had a twin objective -- to create trouble in an area dominated by the Marathi-speaking middle-class and destabilise political equations. The headquarters of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and the residence of its chief Raj Thackeray were also situated a few minutes away from the blast site.
Ashish Shelar, the city Bharatiya Janata Party chief, rubbished the reports of a secret meeting between former party president Nitin Gadkari and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray at a five-star hotel in Mumbai on Monday.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, who parted ways with the Shiv Sena in January 2006, on Monday said he was willing to "walk a hundred steps" for his uncle Balasaheb Thackeray and added that the doors of his party were always open for the Sena founder.
Singling out trade unionist Sharad Rao whose Mumbai Auto-rickshawmen's Union has threatened to go on indefinite strike next month, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Tuesday said his party would step in to counter the inconvenience caused to commuters due to their "arrogant" behaviour.