As the race for Maharashtra chief minister enters the last lap, Hemant Waje looks at several scenarios which can play out.
'The people preferred Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar...'
Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday said he has clarified his stand on the Election Commission's decision to recognise Eknath Shinde-led faction as the real 'Shiv Sena' and allocation of the 'bow and arrow' poll symbol to it, and will not get involved in the controversy over it.
Election for the seven Rajya Sabha seats in Maharashtra will be held on March 26.
India succeeded in busting the Pakistani narrative on Operation Sindoor, particularly among the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) member nations, where Islamabad sought succour after carrying out terror activities across the border, Shiv Sena leader Shrikant Shinde said.
'This is what you get when you decide to be someone's slaves'
Though the party has made no announcement, former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, the deputy chief minister in the outgoing government, is being seen as the frontrunner for the key position.
'If you look at the average age of all our candidates, you will notice that their average age is between 35 and 40. It is a kind of revolution that the MNS is bringing in Maharashtra.'
'Even the late Balasaheb Thackeray had once stressed on the arrangement between Shiv Sena-BJP that the party having more number of elected legislators will have a claim on the post of chief minister'
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Deora had recently expressed disapproval at the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena-UBT laying claim to the South Mumbai Lok Sabha seat.
He, however, made it clear that his party candidates, as and when they contest elections, will do so only on MNS symbol 'railway engine'.
The meeting was convened in the backdrop of the ruling Mahayuti's below par performance in the recently-concluded Lok Sabha elections.
The BJP-led government's decision to grant Kunbi status to individuals from the Maratha community has opened a Pandora's box.
Sawant swore in as Union Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises after 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Shinde said he had "good and positive" discussions with Amit Shah and J P Nadda.
Raj also justified his support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, citing the construction of the Ram Temple and abrogation of Article 370 among other reasons.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday pulled off a stunning performance in Maharashtra winning a record number of seats to propel the party-led ruling Mahayuti alliance to a landslide victory while the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) stormed back to power in Jharkhand on the back of a spectacular showing by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha.
His political career began with his involvement in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and he later became a member of the Shiv Sena.
He also said the tripartite Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government of Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress is just an 'adjustment'.
The constituency of Mumbai South, home to industrialists as well as high-ranking government officials, fared the worst with 47.7 percent voting.
Maharashtra minister Prakash Abitkar said efforts are underway to bring back elephant Mahadevi from a rescue center in Gujarat. The elephant was relocated following a court order due to health concerns. Local leaders are protesting the relocation and seeking her return.
'Was an NDA meeting held to decide if the Shiv Sena has to be removed from the NDA?'
The Maharashtra Assembly elections are taking place today, with the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti alliance seeking to retain power and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) hoping for a comeback. The campaign saw prominent leaders like Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra crisscrossing the state to garner votes. The Mahayuti is banking on popular schemes while the MVA focuses on issues like caste-based census and social justice. The elections have also seen a significant rise in the number of candidates and voters.
Former Union minister Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said that there is no need for the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) to declare a chief ministerial face ahead of the state assembly elections.
Two bills that lay down the mechanism to hold simultaneous elections were introduced in the Lok Sabha after a fiery debate on Tuesday, with the opposition terming the move 'dictatorial' and Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal asserting that the legislation would not tamper with the powers enjoyed by states.
A case has been registered against Maharashtra BJP minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil and 53 others, including directors of a sugar mill, for allegedly obtaining loans of nearly Rs 9 crore in the names of farmers using forged documents. The complaint was filed by a sugarcane cultivator and member of the cooperative sugar mill, alleging that the loan amounts were never credited to the farmers' accounts and were instead siphoned off by sugar mill officials and bank staff. The case was registered based on a court directive following a complaint alleging irregularities that occurred in 2004.
Koshyari recently wrote to Thackeray on reopening places of worship in the state and asked if the Shiv Sena president had "suddenly turned secular," triggering a war of words between the governor and the chief minister. Shah on Saturday told a news channel that "Koshyari could have chosen his words better".
BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar said the Mahayuti partners will meet Governor C P Radhakrishnan to stake a claim to form a government in the state.
Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra will be held in five phases on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13 and May 20. Counting of votes will be held on June 4.
Rane's tour is being seen a major show of strength by the BJP ahead of the crucial BMC polls, due early next year.
The Nationalist Congress Party is livid as Shivtare continues to criticise Pawar, whose wife Sunetra is likely to contest from the Baramati Lok Sabha seat, even after meeting Shinde in Mumbai recently.
A 39-member parliamentary panel has been constituted to examine the two bills proposing simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. The panel, chaired by BJP leader Bhratruhari Mahtab, will include prominent members from various political parties, including the BJP, Congress, SP, TMC, and DMK. The panel is expected to submit its report to the Lok Sabha by the first day of the last week of the next session. The government has decided to increase the committee's strength to include more political parties, highlighting the significance of this proposal to reform the election process in India.
Prasad dismissed accusations that BJP was committing "murder of democracy" by entering into an alliance with a group of NCP and referred to Shiv Sena joining hands with the Congress.
Union Minority Affairs Minister A R Antulay on Wednesday suggested that Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare could have met his end due to his role in the Malegaon blasts investigation. Karkare and two other senior officers of the Mumbai police died on November 26 when Pakistani terrorists attacked Mumbai. Antulay said Karkare was investigating some cases in which there are non-Muslims also.
'They want to keep the BJP out, but how to make it happen is the issue that the Congress high command will resolve.'
'There is a hunch that BJP's 'Chanakya' is trying to create some confusion by sending Ajit to meet senior Pawar'
"If the Union government can send probe (agency) officials to the houses of (former Jharkhand CM) Soren and (Delhi CM) Kejriwal,?"
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said the ruling Mahayuti in Maharashtra will retain power with full majority and a decision on who will be the chief minister will be taken by the alliance partners after the state polls.
Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party president Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Wednesday said Chief Minister Eknath Shinde should be willing to make 'sacrifices', in terms of seat-sharing for the assembly polls, like the BJP has done to keep the alliance intact.
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