Shiv Sena deprecated Bharatiaya Janata Party Member of Parliament Chandan Mitra's demand for stripping Nobel laureate Amartya Sen of Bharat Ratna over his comments on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi but advised the seasoned economist "not to poke his nose" into politics.
The Sena, an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre and in Maharashtra, has since long been demanding the highest civilian award for Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, who spent the prime of his life at the Cellular Jail in Andaman after being sentenced to life.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis should resign as the term of the existing assembly is ending (on November 9), the Sena spokesman said.
'When those in power fail on the twin fronts of employment and poverty, they have to play the reservation card'
Sena President Uddhav Thackeray who is said to be upset over the recent meeting between MNS chief Raj Thackeray and Nitin Gadkari, on Wednesday ruled out the possible inclusion of any new players in the 'Mahayuti' (grand alliance) even as he took a dig at the former BJP chief by calling him an "apt businessman".
The Shiv Sena on Wednesday asked why Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar was "silent" on the issue of the controversial remarks made by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on drought and load shedding.
"Hanumanji was a devta, a god and I consider him as god and I worship him.. I am a sportsman and all sportsmen worship power... Humunanji was a symbol of power and strength... He also used to do wrestling and was a sportsman... all wrestlers worship him," Chauhan said in Amroha on Sunday.
In a sarcastic note, the Sena also asked if the emotional call the Chief Justice of India Justice T S Thakur made on Sunday for increasing the number of judges to tackle the mounting number of cases could be termed as an "achievement" of the Modi government.
The party said Gandhi threw himself into the campaign arena without worrying about the final poll outcome in Gujarat.
Shiv Sena on Tuesday lashed out at Bharatiya Janata Party-led governments in the state and the Centre saying it "will not hesitate to sit on the head of the Maharashtara government" over the issue of farmers' suicides and relief to crop growers hit by unseasonal rains neither bow down before it.
The Sena also took a dig at NCP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who last week rebelled against his party and supported the BJP to form government in the state.
Mehek Prabhu, a woman from Mumbai, displayed a ' Free Kashmir' placard at Gateway of India during protests against JNU attacks, after which the BJP cirtiicsed the Shiv Sena-led govt for 'tolerating anti-national activities'.
Even as its demand for disenfranchisement of Muslims community has evoked sharp reactions from political parties, the Shiv Sena on Tuesday sought to know why the issue of voting rights of Kashmiri Pandits has not been raised in the same manner.
Unlike the frenzy and buzz in political circles during the last few days, the meetings on Thursday were held in a discreet manner.
Criticising the governor for giving the Shiv Sena just 24 hours to stake claim and refusing it additional time to muster numbers, an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana' said, "It looked like some invisible power was controlling this game and decisions were taken accordingly."
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Friday defended Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari, who has been accused of receiving illegal favours in land allotment from Maharashtra's Congress-NJationalist Congress Party government.
Stoking a controversy, the Shiv Sena on Sunday demanded that voting rights of Muslims should be revoked as the community has often been used to play vote bank politics.
An editorial in Shiv Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' said the Rajasthan telephone tapping episode has exposed many.
Ruling out merger with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray Tuesday said he had no intention of aligning with anybody.
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Monday dismissed reports of his being on ventilator and blamed a leading Marathi newspaper for spreading the "falsehood". "I am not on a ventilator," Thackeray said.
Asked about the clash between Chinese and Indian soldiers at Galwan Valley in Ladakh last month, Pawar said, "When I say there should be no politics over the issue, it is because we can attack them. But the entire country will have to pay a heavy price when there is retaliation to the attack."
These workers do not have jobs and the Railways should not charge train fare from them, Deshmukh said in a video message. The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday said the Railways has subsidised 85 per cent of ticket fare for special trains being run to transport migrant workers and the state governments have to pay the remaining 15 per cent.
It is not a good sign that the brave men were killed in one go on India's own land, an editorial in Sena mouthpiece Saamana said, adding that this happened when a strong and quite patriotic government is in power at the Centre.
Terming the prime minister's address to the nation on September 21 as "most laughable", Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray said Manmohan Singh has "shamelessly" defended Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in retail and rise in diesel prices.
"Be it Delhi or Maharashtra, the atmosphere should be fear-free. It is the responsibility of the rulers to create such an atmosphere that those in public life can work fearlessly. There is no objection to withdrawing the security cover when such atmosphere prevails," the Sena said in an editorial in its mouthpiece 'Saamana'.
Modi must co-operate with "younger brother" Uddhav, the Shiv Sena said in its mouthpiece 'Saamana'.
Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray has said that he will not take over the position of "Shiv Sena pramukh" (supremo) which will always belong to his late father Bal Thackeray.
Taking a dig at the construction of a wall on a plot having several slum structures in Ahmedabad ahead of Trump's visit there, the Sena said the US president's trip would neither stop the fall of rupee's value in forex market nor offer betterment to those (slum dwellers) behind the wall.
During the questioning, the bench noted that in cases of similar illegalities in buildings close to Ranauts, the BMC had waited for several days to carry out the demolition.
'When the BJP came into existence no party used to support it. When NDA was formed many leaders who are now holding posts in the present government were not holding any posts then and some of them were not even born,' the editorial said.
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Monday asked 'staunch Hindus and patriotic public' not to allow the ensuing Indo-Pak cricket matches in India, unless Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde withdraws his statement on 'forgetting the past' to play cricket with Pakistan.
'While it seems that the sole option left for the Shiv Sena chief is to sit in the Opposition and wait and watch, there are two other choices before him to show his party rank and file if he is a quitter or a fighter.'
Thackeray held talks with Thorat, former chief minister Ashok Chavan and another senior Congress leader, Manikrao Thakare, at a suburban hotel.
A day after nephew and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray backed cartoonist Aseem Trivedi who was arrested on charges of sedition, Shiv Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray on Wednesday came out in his support and opposed the sedition law.
Attacking Mungantiwar, the finance minister in the outgoing government, Sena said he issued the "threat" of imposing the President's Rule, as other "intimidation tactics" like using investigating agencies for settling political scores have fallen flat in Maharashtra.
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Wednesday launched a veiled attack on the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, led by his estranged nephew Raj Thackeray, following publication of a photo showing an MNS leader with a functionary of Raza Academy.
Two days after MNS chief Raj Thackeray declared his support to the Modi government over eviction of Bangladeshi and Pakistani infiltrators, the Shiv Sena said in its mouthpiece that Muslim infiltrators from these countries should be thrown out. It also took a dig at Raj over his ideological shift towards Hindutva.
"No one is a saint in politics," he added, possibly a hint to the senior ally that committing such a 'sin' was not entirely unfathomable for the Sena.
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, who had criticised senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani for his controversial blog, on Saturday supported him on the 'illegitimate' United Progressive Alliance government comment.
Maintaining his strong opposition to the tour by the Pakistani cricket team to India, Shiv Sena on Thursday said it was a matter of "national shame".