Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday expressed confidence that his faction will emerge victorious in the legal tussle with the rebel group led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday asserted his rebellion was not an act of "betrayal", but a "revolt" and asked Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray to kneel down at party founder Bal Thackeray's memorial and apologise for going against his ideals and aligning with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
The assembly bypolls in Bihar and Maharashtra, scheduled for November 3, are set to be the first electoral test of the popularity of the respective state governments after a change in the political alignment.
Senior RSS leader Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi's call to drop the Aurangzeb tomb controversy challenges decades of communal rhetoric in Maharashtra, igniting hopes for unity and a balanced historical narrative.
Bharatiya Janata Party's National Democratic Alliance partners have got five cabinet ministerial berths in the third term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as against none in the outgoing government, given the party's dependence on allies for a majority in the Lok Sabha.
The Maharashtra government will issue a white paper in the next 30 days on some mega projects going out of the state and if any steps were taken by the previous MVA government to retain them, Industries Minister Uday Samant said in Mumbai on Tuesday. The Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government is under fire from the Opposition which has accused the ruling dispensation of failing to retain big-ticket Vedanta-Foxconn and Tata-Airbus projects in the state. Both projects chose Gujarat over Maharashtra to set up their units.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde camp's MLAs, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and others held a meeting on Saturday night after the legislators returned to Mumbai.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday claimed a "Godhra-like" incident may take place during the "return journey" of the large number of people expected to converge at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh from across the nation for the inauguration of the Ram temple.
"One nation, one law can be understood. But we will never accept one nation, one party plan of the BJP", Thackeray said.
Uddhav Thackeray and his followers have the option to stop riding a tiger and commence work around a more meaningful and enduring political ideology. It is an option Eknath Shinde's side may not have, supported as they were by the BJP, to maintain continuity of the old Sena, argues Shyam G Menon.
At least two farmers had ended their lives in Sillod during March 3 to 12, police had said. However, sources claimed at least six agriculturists had ended their lives in Aurangabad district in the Marathwada region during the same period, prima facie due to indebtedness.
The meeting came days after Shinde denied that his Shiv Sena MLAs were uncomfortable with the inclusion of Ajit Pawar and 8 NCP leaders.
The development assumes significance as Congress' ally Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar group) had named Jitendra Awhad as the new LoP in the assembly following a split in the party due to Ajit Pawar's rebellion last month.
The four-day old Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party government will face the floor test on July 4 during the special two-day session of the Legislative Assembly beginning on Mumbai Sunday.
A controversy had recently erupted with leaders from Maharashtra cutting across political lines objecting to an Assam government advertisement with the claims.
The Supreme Court on Thursday held the Maharashtra governor was not justified in calling upon then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to prove his majority in the assembly on June 30 last year but refused to order the status quo ante, saying he did not face the floor test and resigned.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday said he had been suppressed for a long time and the rebellion led by him was a fallout of the unfair treatment meted out to him, an apparent reference to his old association with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena.
'The margin of victory or loss would make both camps rethink their strategies for the 2024 assembly election in Maharashtra.'
'I fear that Karnataka is going to the polls next year and Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has staked claim to Akkalkot and Solapur'
The police is collecting information from Raut about the threat to his life, he said.
All the current political upheavals in Maharashtra are with the 2024 elections in mind and there is a degree of white-knuckle tension in all parties.
The Bombay high court will on Thursday hear a petition filed by the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena seeking permission to hold its annual Dussehra rally at the iconic Shivaji Park in central Mumbai on October 5.
He dubbed the rumours of 'alternate formulae' being worked out to form the state government as 'entertainment'.
The office of Neelam Gorhe, deputy chairperson of the Maharashtra Legislative Council, has sought more details with regard to a letter by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde seeking the appointment of Viplove Bajoria as Shiv Sena whip in the Upper House, effectively giving a temporary breather to the Thackeray camp.
He targeted the BJP, saying it gave the option to Opposition to either join them or go to jail.
The Supreme Court said on Wednesday the issues related to the Maharashtra political crisis, triggered by the differences in the Shiv Sena, are "tough" constitutional questions to decide as they have "very serious" ramifications for the polity.
"The 40 MLAs betrayed Uddhav. How can they remain true to the people and the state?" Aaditya asked.
Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Friday met Shiv Sena (UBT) head Uddhav Thackeray at the latter's residence in Bandra in suburban Mumbai.
Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray)'s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut walked out of Mumbai's Arthur Road jail on Wednesday evening, hours after a special court granted him bail in a money laundering case.
Members of the BJP and the Shinde faction staged a demonstration in the Vidhan Bhavan complex on Thursday while holding banners which read: "AU kaun hain" (who is AU).
Fadnavis said 39 Sena MLAs who belong to the Shinde faction have said they do not support the government.
While political experts claim that the Modi Magic is missing in the 2024 general election, the common people in the street -- at least those in the crowd on Thursday -- vow that they will vote for Modi and the candidate who contests the election doesn't matter much.
Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra assembly Vijay Wadettiwar on Saturday claimed that there will be major changes in the state government, including the 'main seat', in the coming weeks.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday took note of the Eknath Shinde faction's claim about the Uddhav Thackeray camp stalling the proceedings before the poll panel where the former's application staking claim over the Shiv Sena and its symbol is pending, and said it will consider listing its plea before a Constitution bench.
Sources in the BJP said the expansion of the cabinet was unlikely before the session though the allocation of portfolios to the NCP ministers might happen in the coming days.
The new political equation in Maharashtra, reflected in the alliance between Shiv Sena and the Ramdas Athavale-led faction of Republican Party of India, on Monday drew flak from the Congress, whose General Secretary Digvijay Singh described it as an "opportunist" posture.
The complaint in this regard was filed by Kirit Somaiya in July, the police official added.
Raut's claims have drawn sharp reactions from the BJP, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Congress's candidate from Nagpur.
Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde could not have been sworn in as the chief minister of Maharashtra if the assembly speaker was not restrained from deciding the disqualification petitions pending against 39 MLAs, the Supreme Court said on Wednesday.
It said in a parliamentary democracy, the speaker is an officer of the assembly and performs the function of presiding over the House proceedings and representing the House for all intents and purposes.
