As the battle for Dalit votes ahead of the civic elections in Maharashtra got interesting amid reports that the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party is mulling a resolution on renaming Dadar railway station in Mumbai as 'Chaityabhoomi' station, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray said he was opposed to any such move.
Maharashtra Navnirman Seva chief Raj Thackeray on Monday met Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who is observing a 72-hour fast for 'peace and harmony' in the state.
Eyebrows were raised on Monday in political circles after the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray visited the Bharatiya Janata Party office in Mumbai and met the party's Maharashtra President Sudhir Mungantiwar.
Stating that long-standing ties with its saffron ally have been normalised, Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday said the Bharatiya Janata Party chief Rajnath Singh and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi have assured him that Maharashtra Navnirman Sena will not be included in the 'mahayuti' (grand alliance).
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray on Friday said he was not aware of any talks about forming an alliance with main opposition parties, Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party.
Maintaining that anything is possible in politics, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Gopinath Munde on Sunday called for a tri-partite alliance of Shiv Sena, BJP and Raj Thackeray led-Maharashtra Navnirman Sena to pull down the ruling Congress-Nationalist Congress Party combine.
The MNS -- which aggressively compelled a ban on employing Pakistani actors and others in Bollywood last year -- has been subdued in comparison after a Marathi manoos was sentenced to death in Pakistan.
The state has total 8,98,39,600 voters, including 1,06,76,013 in the age group of 18 to 25 years. A total of 6.5 lakh polling personnel have been deployed at 96,661 polling booths across the state.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray and Republic Party of India leader have been engaged in a mudslinging exercise after the former publicly questioned the latter's acquisition of property in Bandra.
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.
After warning multiplex owners over screening of Marathi movies, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray has now trained his guns at taxi and auto drivers.
The actor will next be seen in Karan Johar's directorial venture Ae Dil Hai Mushkil.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Tuedsay faced more flak across the political spectrum for blaming 'migrants' for malaria outbreak in Mumbai with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar saying the remarks were uncalled for and deplorable.
Top Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, including L K Advani, spoke to Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray after which the party, upset over arch-rival Maharashta Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray's visit to BJP office, said it will attend the NDA rally in Delhi on Wednesday.
Objecting to the word 'Bambai' for Mumbai used by designate Chief Minister of Maharashtra Prithviraj Chavan, Maharashtra Navnirman Senha chief Raj Thackeray on Wednesday asked him to take oath in Marathi.
The strike is expected to be observed in key cities like Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune among other cities.
The first day of the newly elected Maharashtra assembly got off to a stormy start, with the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena carrying out its threat and assaulting Samajwadi Party legislator Abu Asim Azmi, who too carried out his threat to take his oath in Hindi. Action was quick in following, with four MNS legislators -- Vasant Geete, Shishir Shinde, Ram Kadam and Ramesh Wanjale -- being suspended for four years by the pro-tem speaker for the violent incident
Chief of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena Raj Thackeray, along with the 13 party members who were elected to the Maharashtra legislative assembly, plays floral tribute at the Hutatma Chowk in Churchgate on Monday.
Prakash Mahajan, brother of late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, has been appointed Shiv Sena spokesperson and a deputy leader.
'Criticism of Uddhav suits the NCP perfectly.' 'NCP members head key ministries in Maharashtra like home, finance and health, yet as chief minister it is Uddhav who is criticised for the state government's shortcomings.' 'Few hold NCP chief Sharad Pawar accountable for the performance of NCP ministers,' argues Sanjeev Nayyar.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, who forced filmmaker Karan Johar to apologise for calling Mumbai 'Bombay' in his film, has attracted the ire of critics for calling the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus by its former name VT.The bustling terminus, designed by Frederick William Stevens, a consulting architect in 1887-1888, was renamed as Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in 1996, but the abbreviation VT has stuck with most Mumbaiites and Raj proved he is no "At
Softening his stand against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh said on Sunday that Raj's statement regarding migrants spreading Malaria was not from his heart.
The Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) on Monday asked private carrier Jet Airways to make announcements in Marathi and also Marathi movies and newspapers mandatory in flights operating from Mumbai.
Union Heavy Industries Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Saturday asked people not to attach much importance to what the Thackerays say and accused the family members of fighting among themselves to strengthen their political base in Maharashtra. "Don't attach much importance to what they say. It is their family problem, to strengthen their (respective) political base," the former Maharashtra chief minister said.
Impressed by the Tamil Conference held recently, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Sunday lamented that such efforts were not being made in Maharashtra for Marathi language.
The Bombay High Court asked the Maharashtra government on Wednesday, as to whether it found any evidence of involvement of top leaders of Shiv Sena, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and Congress in incidents of political vandalism in the state in recent past.
Taking cognizance of charges against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray for allegedly inciting violence against aspirants from the state for railway jobs in Mumbai, a Bihar court has asked him to appear before it next month to explain his position.
The Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, which emerged as the second largest party in the Kalyan-Dombivli civic polls with 28 seats in the 107-member House, on Monday decided not to form the new civic government and work as an Opposition party
Accusing the chief minister of watering down the Cabinet decision taken on Wednesday to make local language clause mandatory for 4000 new taxi permits to be issued by the state, Thackaray said: "More than the welfare of the people Congress CMs are more concerned about what 'Madam' (Sonia Gandhi) would think. Our CM should do a part time job with CMs from southern states to practise how to know to remain steadfast in their decisions.'
With the Kalyan Dombivali Municipal Corporation elections throwing up a hung verdict, all eyes are now on the next moves of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray.
Scotching speculation of any alliance between the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party and Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), Sena chief Bal Thackeray said there was no need for a "third entity" in the combine.
The Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, whose elected members assaulted Samajwadi Party legislator Abu Azmi in the Maharashtra assembly for taking oath in Hindi, on Tuesday warned him on speaking against Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray.
Expect plenty of fireworks on May 1 this year as the state celebrates 50 years of its formation.
"My brand of politics will work", thundered Raj Thackeray after his Maharashtra Navnirman Sena romped home with an impressive 13 seats in the first Assembly polls the party contested.
Polling for the 288-member Maharashtra assembly was continuing in brisk pace in Mumbai on Tuesday. 20 per cent polling had already been completed in the state till noon.
Union Agriculture Minister and Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar on Tuesday ruled out seeking support from Maharashtra Navnirman Sena led by Raj Thackeray to form government in Maharashtra.
Within a gap of seven hours, two high-profile but diametrically opposite campaigns in this city set the tone for the coming Maharashtra Assembly elections. While Congress President Sonia Gandhi pitched for an inclusive growth with greater emphasis on poorer and backward section, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray's high-decibel slogans catered only for the 'Marathi issue'.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Tuesday asked party workers to remove the 'tail' from mobile service provider Airtel for failing to launch announcements in Marathi.
The Maharashtra government told the Bombay High Court there was no evidence against Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, Maharasthra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray and Congress leader Narayan Rane in a case relating to four separate incidents of political vandalism in 2009.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Thursday accused Shiv Sena of adopting dual standards, saying the party was insisting on an apology from Shah Rukh Khan over his pro-Pakistan remarks while keeping mum on megastar Amitabh Bachchan's campaign for good ties with that country.
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