Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday demanded that Maharashtra's Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar take a decision on the disqualification of 16 MLAs at the earliest.
The party on Wednesday removed former minister Sudhir Sharma, who was among the six rebel MLAs who were later disqualified for defying party whip on the state budget, from the post of All India Congress Committee secretary with immediate effect.
The Kamal Nath-led Congress government plunged into crisis after the resignations of 22 rebel MLAs of the ruling Congress earlier this month.
Patil said after he cast his vote in Mumbai on June 20 for the Maharashtra Legislative Council polls, he was called to Shinde's bungalow in neighbouring Thane.
AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami has ruled out the possibility of re-inducting expelled leaders like O Panneerselvam, stating that those who "betrayed" the party have no place in it. He also praised the BJP-led Centre for protecting the AIADMK government in 2017.
'The BJP's top leadership realised that their cadres are not happy with them, so they changed the ministers and got in new faces.'
The Bombay high court on Thursday termed as "politically induced litigation" a PIL filed by seven citizens seeking action against dissident Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde and other rebel MLAs of the party, and said it would hear the plea if the petitioners deposit Rs 1 lakh as security.
While guests who had arrived earlier are leaving one by one, sources revealed that the hotel, situated on Dumas Road of the diamond city, has stopped accepting new bookings for an indefinite period.
Independent MLAs might approach Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari very soon.
'Without our support Nitish Kumar wouldn't have become chief minister.' 'After the government was formed we became ministers, but our agenda remained the same: Amit Shah had promised reservation for Nishads.' 'He wouldn't listen, so we went to UP and contested 52 seats in the 2022 elections. He didn't like the idea of rebellion.' 'He saw that this man, coming from Bombay, is very sharp. He's made four MLAs now, tomorrow he'll make 40. A time will come when they will make it 125.' 'They bought our MLAs and ousted us from the government.'
The Mumbai police have stepped up security near Vidhan Bhavan ahead of the floor test slated for Thursday and along the route that the rebel MLAs of the Shiv Sena are likely to take from the airport, an official said on Wednesday.
A SpiceJet aircraft has been hired and the flight is expected to leave Guwahati's Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport for Goa's Dabolim airport at around 3 pm, sources privy to the development told PTI.
Sena has challenged the Governor's June 30 decision to invite a coalition of the Shinde faction and the BJP to form government in Maharashtra.
Uttarakhand Speaker has issued notices to nine rebel Congress MLAs asking them why they should not be disqualified from the House for aligning with the opposition BJP.
At present, there are 18 Bahujan Samaj Party MLAs in the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly.
Worsening the crisis in Assam, State Education and Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma quit on Monday demanding the immediate ouster of Tarun Gogoi as chief minister.
Shinde will spend the night at Radisson Blu hotel, the same hotel where the then rebel MLAs had stayed in June.
The Bharatiya Janata Party leadership in Himachal Pradesh is making efforts to mollify party leaders who are disgruntled over distribution of tickets to six Congress rebels for the assembly bypolls, former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said on Tuesday.
They have sought quashing of the July 25 order of disqualification by K R Ramesh Kumar, who resigned on Monday as speaker of the House.
The Karnataka unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party has sent a report to its leadership in New Delhi about party leaders who attended the launch of the B S Yeddyurappa's Karnataka Janata Party last Sunday.
'You know how politics is. You never know what will happen the next moment.'
Many rebel legislators who are supporting Shinde are not happy with the current arrangement, Pawar said.
Kesarkar alleged Shinde was insulted on the Shiv Sena foundation day (June 19) last year.
As the political turmoil in Maharashtra continues to unfold, rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shide spoke to Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray about the recent political situation in the state, confirmed MNS leader on Monday.
'At the moment the anti-defection law works only in favour of Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena, the original Shiv Sena.' 'The Eknath Shinde camp is at a disadvantage unless they merge with another political party.' 'Otherwise, they will not be saved (from being disqualified).'
The Congress accusing the Union minister of being involved in horse trading of Rajasthan MLAs.
'The NCP fires the gun from Raut's shoulders and who does the bullet hit? Not enemies of our party but loyalists like us. This is not acceptable to us'
Six rebel Congress MLAs, including Rana, who were disqualified for defying the party whip asking them to be present in the assembly and vote in favour of the state government during cut motions and the budget, moved the Supreme Court on Tuesday against their disqualification.
The Nationalist Congress Party on Thursday demanded an inquiry into Maharashtra minister Deepak Kesarkar's claim that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde would have shot himself if his revolt against the Shiv Sena leadership had failed last year.
Rebel Congress MLA and former chief minister Vijay Bahuguna, who also reached Delhi, said he is surprised why CM Harish Rawat has not resigned so far on moral grounds.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday said the rebels have chosen their way and there would be no hindrance from the party in the path of the dissidents to associate with the Bharatiya Janata Party, and the Sena will play the role of constructive opposition to the new government.
Responding to a query on when will the political crisis in Maharashtra end, Shinde, a minister in the Uddhav Thackeray-led government in the state, said things will be clear after some time.
Janata Dal-Secular leader and former Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy expressed confidence on Friday that the Bharatiya Janata Party rebels will align with him and vote against the state governmment during the crucial floor test on October 11.
Congress MLAs will likely to leave for Jaipur from Bhopal on Wednesday.
Earlier, Raut said he has been holding discussions with Shinde and the talks are "positive".
As Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa gears up to fight yet another battle to save his seat, the 16 rebel members of legislative assembly who were given relief by the Supreme Court on Friday, said that their fight is against the individual and not against the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief Uddhav Thackeray and Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar supremo Sharad Pawar on Saturday said there was no question of taking back those leaders who had deserted the two parties.
If their resignations are accepted, they may even go back to Bengaluru, they added.
A public interest litigation was filed in the Bombay high court on Monday against Eknath Shinde, who is leading the group of rebel Shiv Sena MLAs from Maharashtra, for causing a "political turmoil" in the state and instigating an internal disorder in the state government.
The Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday saw cross-voting by a BJP MLA while another party legislator claimed that she was prevented from voting.
