The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti alliance on Saturday retained power in Maharashtra, pocketing a whopping 230 of the 288 assembly seats, as the Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi's dream of wresting power fizzled, with the opposition combine managing to garner just 50 seats.
Several BJP-backed state governments have unveiled schemes targeting the poor, women, farmers and students, following the party's setback in the Lok Sabha polls.
A court in Maharashtra has stayed the conviction of state minister Manikrao Kokate in a 1995 cheating and forgery case, citing the potential for "huge public money" to be spent on a re-election if he were to be disqualified. The court argued that voters had reposed faith in Kokate and elected him as their legislator, and that he would face an "irreversible situation" if disqualified. Kokate, a member of the ruling Nationalist Congress Party, was convicted in February and sentenced to two years in prison for submitting fake documents to obtain government housing. The court noted that Kokate has raised several arguable points in his appeal against the conviction and that a decision on the appeal will take time.
Pawar dismissed reports that Modi government offered to make him India's President.
Sudhakar Badgujar, the leader in question, denied the allegations while speaking at a news conference in Nashik.
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.
MVA allies Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress on Thursday asserted that they will continue to support Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, whose party Shiv Sena is facing a rebellion in its legislative ranks, threatening the stability of his government.
NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad said that the number of 'love jihad' cases cited by Lodha two days ago was factually incorrect and that there have been nearly 3,000 cases of interfaith marriages.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his cabinet colleagues Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh, chief ministers of Nationalist Democratic Alliance-ruled states and prominent personalities from industry and Bollywood on Thursday attended the grand swearing-in of Devendra Fadnavis as Maharashtra Chief Minister in Mumbai.
The assembly polls were fought under Eknath Shinde's leadership and it is now up to the Bharatiya Janata Party's central leadership to decide on how to maintain his stature, the caretaker Maharashtra chief minister's aide and former state minister Deepak Kesarkar said on Monday.
This is Kishor's first meeting with Pawar after the victory of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Trinamool Congress in the assembly elections in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal respectively. He had helped craft the election strategy for these parties in the assembly elections.
The development comes a day after a government resolution (GR) was issued, in which the state administration ordered disbursal of Rs 10 crore funds for strengthening the state Waqf Board.
The newly-elected members couldn't take oath even one month after the results of the assembly polls were announced, due to political up and downs in the state.
A day after the Congress' defeat in the Haryana polls, Modi called the Opposition party irresponsible and a factory to "spread hatred".
He did not divulge any further information on what is going to be an intricate issue and hard bargaining.
The Congress party in India has alleged "serious and grave inconsistencies" in the data relating to the polling and counting processes for the recently concluded Maharashtra Assembly elections. The party has sought an in-person hearing from the Election Commission to present evidence of alleged discrepancies, including the arbitrary deletion and addition of voters and inexplicable increases in voting percentages. The Congress leaders claim these irregularities benefited the ruling BJP-led alliance, which won a decisive victory in the polls.
'I had told Fadnavisji that I will be with the party till the Lok Sabha election and I will give my 100 per cent to campaign for the BJP. But ultimately I will have to take this decision (to quit the BJP).' 'When I requested him to see this from the point of view of an elder brother, he could not say anything more after that.'
BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Maharashtra in a grand ceremony at Azad Maidan in Mumbai.
'Praful Patel said his residential building was sealed, and the investigative agencies have shifted their office to his house, and that he was in a helpless condition.'
Maharashtra's caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who took ill at his native village in Satara district, is recovering and will return to Mumbai on Sunday evening, an associate said.
'Maharashtra election result is a chamatkar of EVM.' 'There has been a sudden one percent rise in the voting percentage after the counting day.' 'This is what made the difference to the election results.' 'How did this vote percentage increase after counting day?
The veteran politician accused the BJP of breaking duly elected governments in opposition-ruled states even as it boasted about providing a stable government at the Centre.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the new Mahayuti government in Maharashtra on December 5. BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis is considered the frontrunner for the chief minister's post, with the BJP having recorded its best-ever electoral performance in the state. The Mahayuti coalition includes Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party.
As reports of political parties swiftly switching loyalties -- to quench their thirst for power -- swirl over Maharashtra, Rediff.com speaks to different players involved in the game of thrones.
Encounter specialist Daya Nayak is reportedly leading the investigation.
Did the fear of central agencies probing scams involving NCP leaders that forced these politicians to jump ship?
Maharashtra state unit Nationalist Congress Party chief Sunil Tatkare said on Sunday that the NCP would contest upcoming the state assembly elections with the Congress party.
'Cases of molestation and rape are reaching the doorstep of households irrespective of their socio-economic status. That's the extent to which criminals are feeling emboldened today.'
The assembly polls in Maharashtra will be held in a single phase while Jharkhand polls will be held in two phases, the Election Commission of India announced on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair a meeting of the Union Council of Ministers on Monday amid a heightened buzz about the likelihood of a Cabinet reshuffle following a series of meetings of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's top brass.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the ED registered the case based on the high court directive.
Meanwhile, the Congress' data analytics department chairperson Praveen Chakravarty on Tuesday wrote to Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, seeking assembly-wise voter rolls in excel sheet format for the Lok Sabha elections and the assembly polls in Maharashtra.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Shirsat has demanded that the party be given the crucial home department in the new Maharashtra government, indicating fissures among the Mahayuti allies. He also alleged attempts to sideline caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who is reportedly upset with the BJP's decision to claim the chief minister's post.
'More than Eknath Shinde's wish, we want him (Shinde) to lead us in the government.'
The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting on Tuesday didn't discuss the issue of the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly and has decided to take a 'wait and watch' approach amid political developments in the state, a senior leader said.
'The message is loud and clear: "If you're not falling in line, we will open a line of understanding with the MNS, and then the Shiv Sena will be in trouble".'
The list also includes the names of Mumbai BJP president Ashish Selar, fielded from the Vandre West seat, and senior party leader and Lok Sabha MP Narayan Rane's son Nitesh Rane, fielded from Kankavli, a seat he currently represents in the assembly.
There are many life lessons to be learnt from the way Sharad Pawar handled the Maharashtra political crisis.
Is a sulking Eknath Shinde on the way out as Shiv Sena chief?
Observing that the sanctity of the 10th Schedule of the Constitution should be maintained, the Supreme Court on Monday directed Maharashtra assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar to decide the cross-petitions filed by the rival factions of the Shiv Sena seeking disqualification of each other's MLAs by December 31.
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