Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday said Uddhav Thackeray will remain the chief minister of Maharashtra and the ruling coalition Maha Vikas Aghadi will prove its majority on the floor of the assembly if needed, an assertion coming against the backdrop of rebellion by senior Cabinet member Eknath Shinde that has put a question mark on the stability of the state government.
'We have not hijacked the party, the NCP and the Congress have hijacked it'
A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana said it would take a call by Monday on referring the matters related to the recent Maharashtra political crisis to a Constitution Bench.
"I am also quitting as member of Legislative Council," Thackeray said in a webcast.
'How can the EC then deduce that 76 per cent of the people who voted for the united Shiv Sena's MLAs voted for Eknath Shinde?'
'If the Maha Vikas Aghadi thinks that they have won 30 (Lok Sabha) seats and that would translate to winning 180 assembly seats they would be living in a fool's paradise.'
Thackeray also condemned the collapse of a girder of an overbridge which was being constructed on a section of the Mumbai-Goa highway in Chiplun city on Monday.
The INDIA bloc is set to field a joint candidate for the upcoming vice presidential elections. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge is engaging with opposition parties to identify potential candidates and build consensus. The decision reflects a unified front among opposition parties aiming to send a strong political message.
If Uddhav continues in this mode as a serious-minded, capable leader with his hands firmly on the steering wheel, and succeeds in enabling Maharashtra weather the current storm, there is every possibility of his emergence as a leader who will be seen as someone who is ready to play a larger role, observes Amulya Ganguli.
In a major setback to party founder Sharad Pawar, the Election Commission of India also allotted the NCP symbol 'Wall Clock' to the group led by Ajit Pawar.
'We are here to reason it out with Shinde saheb.'
He asserted that his faction's event on October 5, to be held at the MMRDA ground in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), a business district in suburban Mumbai, will be a success as lakhs of people are expected to attend the rally.
The SC has kept in abeyance the disqualification proceedings before the Deputy Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly till July 12
He had resigned from his post as a deputy leader of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, Khotkar told reporters in Jalna.
Embattled Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday addressed the state online, and made it clear that he had no intention of continuing in office if his own MLAs didn't want him.
'When I see people's faces I can see that there is a certain sadness in their eyes which makes me unhappy as a person.' 'I want to see people happy in their lives.'
Rebel Shiv Sena MLAs from Maharashtra have contributed Rs 51 lakh for the flood relief wok in Assam, where they have been camping since the last week, their spokesperson said on Wednesday.
'How long will you hide in Guwahati, you will have to come to chowpatty,' the Sena MP tweeted in Hindi along with a photo of the state Assembly's Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal looking into the distance.
Raut has been asked to depose at the agency's regional office in Mumbai.
Thackeray also took a veiled dig at chief minister Shinde as the allocation of portfolios is yet to be done though the cabinet was expanded recently after a long wait.
Sena's newly appointed deputy leader Anita Birje said Sainiks will rise to the occasion if anyone tries to do so.
Raut made the allegations in a letter to the Mumbai police commissioner, copies of which were also sent to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who holds the home portfolio, and the police of Thane city.
The Centre on Sunday extended Y-plus security cover of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) commandos to at least 15 rebel Shiv Sena MLAs, officials said.
Rutuja Latke, the candidate of 'Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray' party for the upcoming Andheri (east) bypoll, on Wednesday moved the Bombay high court seeking a direction to the Mumbai civic body to accept her resignation as its employee.
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.
Amid political turmoil in Maharashtra following a revolt by Shiv Sena minister Eknath Shinde, six members of legislative assembly (MLAs) and a member of legislative council (MLC) from the neighbouring state arrived in Gujarat's Surat city on Thursday and were later flown to Guwahati in Assam, where party rebels are camping, in two chartered flights, sources said.
Rebel Shiv Sena MLAs led by senior leader Eknath Shinde, who are currently camping in Goa, will hold a meeting on Thursday to decide the way forward as they are likely to support the Bharatiya Janata Party to form the next government in Maharashtra following the resignation of Uddhav Thackeray as the chief minister.
Speculation about Ajit Pawar's next political move started swirling last week when he suddenly cancelled his scheduled meetings and also made comments which were seen as being soft on the Bharatiya Janata Party and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's camp.
Thane, the home turf of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, will on Friday witness Dahi Handi events being organised by his faction as well as the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena.
An MLA from Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena faction and a legislator of the Nationalist Congress Party virtually came to blows in the Vidhan Bhavan premises in Mumbai on Wednesday after shouting slogans against each other.
However, Shiv Sena spokesperson and MLA Sanjay Shirsat on Tuesday claimed Ajit Pawar-led NCP joining the Sena-BJP government is as per a larger strategy ahead of the Lok Sabha and assembly polls scheduled next year.
The Ranas had on Friday said that they would recite Hanuman Chalisa outside 'Matoshree', the personal residence of Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray in suburban Bandra at 9 am on Saturday.
The Sharad Pawar-led NCP is just two short of the Sena's tally in the Upper House of the state legislature.
The editorial in Saamana said the "Wagner group" has shown dictatorship can be challenged.
Gaikwad claimed that Koshyari had made statements about the founder of the Maratha Empire and stoked controversy in the past as well.
The ED has summoned Raj in a case pertaining to alleged irregularities related to Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services loan to Kohinoor CTNL.
Shiv Sena rebel Eknath Shinde, camping in Guwahati, has claimed that he has the support of 34 MLAs of his party and passed a resolution on Wednesday evening reinstating himself as the leader of the Shiv Sena legislative party, a day after he was removed from the post by the Sena leadership.
Opposition parties in India, including the Congress, Left parties, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Trinamool Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Shiv Sena (UBT), and NCP (SP), have unanimously hailed the armed forces' "Operation Sindoor", a retaliatory strike against terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The operation, which involved missile and drone strikes, was conducted in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. Despite political differences, all parties expressed support for the government and the armed forces, stressing the importance of national unity and integrity in the face of terrorism. While emphasizing the need for diplomatic avenues to prevent further escalation, some parties also called for caution in attributing political credit for the strikes.
'...that he was in talks with the SS-UBT and would return if his ministry was snatched away and given to one of the NCP ministers.'
'Our fight is against his political masters, the BJP and Devendra Fadnavis.'
