Besides late Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray and former prime minister Indira Gandhi, NCP president Sharad Pawar also figured in the posters.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena on Wednesday nominated Rajan Vichare as the party's chief whip in the Lok Sabha, replacing MP Bhavana Gawali, party leader Sanjay Raut said.
Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray was on Wednesday formally elected as the president of the party during a national executive meeting held in central Mumbai.
"A BJP leader had told me that my phone was being tapped. I said if anybody wants to listen to what I am saying I welcome it. I am Balasaheb's chela (disciple), whatever I do, I do it openly," Raut told reporters. "In spite of the phone-tapping, we formed the government in Maharashtra," he said. Raut's remarks come a day after state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh alleged that the Fadnavis dispensation misused government machinery to tap the phones of opposition leaders, especially during the formation of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government.
The Lok Sabha witnessed a heated debate between BJP and Congress members regarding the handling of Naxalism, with the BJP accusing the previous UPA government of failing to contain left-wing extremism and the Congress defending its efforts to curb the threat.
Shinde's reaction came hours after Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray reached out to the rebels, saying he would quit his post if even one Sena MLA comes and tells him on his face that he was incompetent.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis addressed the state assembly regarding the arrest of self-styled godman Ashok Kharat, accused of rape, assuring a thorough investigation and protection for potential victims.
The BJP can win two Rajya Sabha seats with the number of MLAs it has, while the ruling allies Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP in Maharashtra can win a seat each.
Maharashtra Deputy CM Eknath Shinde launched a veiled attack on Uddhav Thackeray, invoking characters from a film to criticize Thackeray's leadership and policies ahead of upcoming municipal elections. Shinde highlighted government initiatives and defended his position, while also criticizing the opposition's performance.
Shiv Sena Minister Bharat Gogawale's son, Vikas Gogawale, surrendered to police in connection with the Mahad poll violence case after the Bombay High Court criticized the Maharashtra government's inaction.
With Narayan Rane, the BJP looks to expand its footprint in Mumbai and Konkan. But a perceived self-goal by him may have galvanised the restive Shiv Sena cadre and voters to coalesce around their party. Dhaval Kulkarni reports
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Sena president Uddhav Thackeray will announce the quantum of seat sharing, Patil told reporters.
Shiv Sena Member of Parliament Prakash Paranjpe died on Wednesday night following a prolonged illness. He was 61.
The Bombay High Court questioned the rule of law in Maharashtra, criticizing the Chief Minister's silence regarding a minister's son who is absconding after being named in a criminal case. The court was hearing a pre-arrest bail application related to a violent clash during municipal elections.
An email threatening missile and bomb attacks on the Maharashtra Vidhan Bhavan and other key locations in Mumbai triggered a security alert, prompting extensive searches and heightened security measures.
'If somebody compares Mumbai with the Taliban and PoK, then that person is anti-national.'
With Ajit Pawar's passing, the 40 MLAs who remain will now have to decide whether they want to continue in Mahayuti in the company of the BJP and Shiv Sena -- or return to the Sharad Pawar fold.
Once an auto-rickshaw driver in Thane city adjoining Mumbai, Shinde (58) quickly emerged as a key Sena leader in the Thane-Palghar region after joining politics and is known for aggressive approach towards issues of public interest.
The first phase of polling for municipal councils and nagar panchayats in Maharashtra was disrupted by violence and allegations of bogus voting. Clashes occurred between supporters of ruling allies BJP, NCP, and Shiv Sena. The Bombay High Court directed the SEC to postpone the counting of votes.
The Shiv Sena has plans to field 50 to 100 candidates in Uttar Pradesh, including in Ayodhya and Mathura and made it clear that the party will not be part of any alliance.
Seeking to put aside speculation about a rift over Maharashtra assembly poll seat-sharing in Shiv Sena-BJP alliance, BJP president Amit Shah met Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai on Thursday night.
The rebel Shiv Sena group led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the Bharatiya Janata Party will contest the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation elections in alliance, a rebel faction functionary said on Thursday.
The threat posed by Shiv Sena is growing into a 'monster' that may prove very hard to control, a leading Pakistani daily said on Tuesday and asked the Indian government to take action against the party to safeguard the country's image.
Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde has vowed to take strict action against illegal immigrants who have obtained fake birth certificates, as well as the agents and officials who assisted them. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has already cancelled 237 fake birth certificates and is working to recover the original documents.
'This will split the Marathi and Shiv Sena vote.' 'The BJP has conducted 3 surveys indicating they shall secure 109 seats in the BMC.' 'They do not wish for the Shinde Sena to demonstrate excessive strength in the BMC.' 'If the Thackerays secure 60-70 seats, that will affect Shinde's seats.'
Shiv Sena's Kolhapur district president Sanjay Pawar will be its second candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls, party chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut said on Tuesday, in what is a clear snub to Chhatrapati Sambhaji who was seeking support for his candidature.
The BJP stunned the Pawars in the Pune polls, clinching 119 seats. The NCP came a distant second with 27 seats, while its ally, NCP (SP) led by Sharad Pawar, won three. The Congress managed 15 seats.
He said Shinde has already made it clear his faction is not interested in staking claim to the Shiv Sena Bhavan or any property linked to the Thackeray group.
The top court said it would tag the fresh plea and hear it together with pending ones on August 1.
Twelve newly-elected councillors in the Ambernath Municipal Council, suspended by the Congress for joining a post-poll front led by the BJP, have formally joined the saffron party. The Congress criticized the BJP, highlighting the hypocrisy of welcoming defectors despite the Chief Minister's disapproval of the alliance.
Senior BJP leader Narayan Rane hints at retirement, citing family business and political climate as reasons for stepping back from active politics.
Hailing Banerjee as the "real Bengal tigress", the party, which had earlier said that it would join the electoral battle in the state, vowed to "stand in solidarity" with the TMC camp.
The Election Commission of India has told the Supreme Court it passed a "well-reasoned" order recognising the Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led faction as the real Shiv Sena and allotting to it the original 'bow and arrow' symbol in its quasi-judicial capacity.
While they have been watching every bit of development on television and through their contacts in the state of Maharashtra, those who have watched them closely say that the rebel Sena MLAs have maintained a reasonable calm so far.
Congress leaders from Maharashtra Ashok Chavan, Prithviraj Chavan and Pradesh Congress Committee chief Balasaheb Thorat attended the meeting along with the top brass of the party, including Ahmed Patel.
Rane, who arrived in Nagpur on Tuesday on his first visit to Vidarbha after quitting the Shiv Sena and joining the Congress, was greeted with black flags by Shiv Sena.
Senior NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil has ruled out the possibility of a merger between the two factions of the Nationalist Congress Party, stating that talks ceased following the death of Ajit Pawar.
'The Shiv Sena as a party was going nowhere.' 'Now Uddhav Thackeray has shown his partymen that he can take the BJP head on.'
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