"If the Union government can send probe (agency) officials to the houses of (former Jharkhand CM) Soren and (Delhi CM) Kejriwal,?"
Senior Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Subhash Desai's son Bhushan Desai joined Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led faction of the party on Monday, dealing a jolt to the rival camp.
Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on Friday said he did not want to delay the decision on the disqualification pleas against some Shiv Sena MLAs but asserted 'just like justice delayed is justice denied, justice hurried is justice buried'.
While workers of the Shiv Sena shouted that the party belongs to them, those owing allegiance to Uddhav Thackeray responded with "traitors go back" slogans.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday termed the criticism of Uddhav Thackeray in Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar's autobiography "wrong information" and downplayed it by claiming books are read for two days and then put into libraries.
The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) is keen to join hands with the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance in Maharashtra with an aim to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that is currently ruling the state along with two other parties, former MP Imtiaz Jaleel has said.
Shinde said the Opposition has described the Mukhya Mantri Ladki Bahin Yojana as "deceptive and a false assurance", but the scheme has received an overwhelming response from women.
'The BJP has killed public anger. They have killed people's self-respect.'
The meeting was convened in the backdrop of the ruling Mahayuti's below par performance in the recently-concluded Lok Sabha elections.
'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.'
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday assured his government will continue the Ladki Bahin Yojana and fulfil Mahayuti's pre-poll promise of hiking the monthly stipend under the scheme to Rs 2,100 from Rs 1,500 now to eligible women.
Incidentally, after the rebellion in June last year led to Shinde becoming chief minister, one of the reasons they gave for breaking away from Uddhav Thackeray was the dominance of the NCP in the Maha Vikas Agahdi government.
Defying predictions of his political eclipse, Nationalist Congress Party chief Ajit Pawar has not only consolidated his position in the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti, but also fortified his place in Maharashtra politics by becoming deputy chief minister for the sixth time.
The Devendra Fadnavis-Ajit Pawar government formed in a hush-hush ceremony in November 2019 after the state assembly elections had lasted for three days.
Ahead of the crucial legislature party meeting scheduled for Wednesday, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Devendra Fadnavis met with caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday, the first in-person meeting since their discussions in Delhi last week for government formation.
The EC had, on February 17, recognised the faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde as the real Shiv Sena and had allotted it the 'bow and arrow' symbol, prompting Shah to claim Thackeray would now know on which side the truth was.
The Maharashtra Assembly elections are set to be a defining moment for several regional heavyweights, including Sharad Pawar, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, his predecessor Uddhav Thackeray, and deputy CM Ajit Pawar. The two Pawars, Shinde, and Thackeray are engaged in a fierce battle for political dominance, with the outcome potentially deciding the fate of their respective parties. The BJP is contesting 149 seats, Shiv Sena 81 seats, and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP has fielded candidates in 59 constituencies. In the opposition alliance, the Congress has fielded 101 candidates, Shiv Sena (UBT) 95, and the NCP (SP) 86. The election is also marked by intense factional fights, with the two claimants of Shiv Sena's legacy competing in over 50 seats and the two Pawars facing each other in nearly 37 constituencies.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena on Monday said it will be easier for them to get permission for their annual Dussehra rally at the Shivaji Park in Mumbai, after the faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde got nod to hold a rally in the Bandra Kurla Complex.
The constituency of Mumbai South, home to industrialists as well as high-ranking government officials, fared the worst with 47.7 percent voting.
Former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, who heads a faction of the Shiv Sena, on Thursday said his party has immense respect for V D Savarkar and he does not approve of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's remarks on the freedom fighter.
Senior Congress leader and Maharashtra assembly poll candidate Balasaheb Thorat has asserted that the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) will win a clear majority and also indicated his chief ministerial aspirations. Thorat, who is among the senior leaders in the MVA after NCP (SP) head Sharad Pawar, said he enjoys cordial relations with leaders of the alliance. He also criticized the ruling Mahayuti coalition, accusing it of corruption and communal politics.
The Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena on Monday moved the Supreme Court challenging Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar's order declaring the Sena bloc led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde as the 'real political party' after its split in June 2022.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) of Uddhav Thackeray has denounced in the Supreme Court the "highly improper" meeting between Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and state legislative assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar, barely three days before the deadline set by the apex court for the latter to decide cross-petitions filed by rival Sena factions seeking disqualification of several of each other's MLAs.
Rashmi Thackeray, wife of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, on Thursday visited a Navratri event at Tembi Naka in Thane city and offered prayers to Goddess Durga.
'This is what you get when you decide to be someone's slaves'
After hearing arguments from Shiv Sena factions led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray, Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar has decided to conduct the official hearing on disqualification petitions against the MLAs of the Shinde group on October 13, advocate Anil Sakhare, who is representing the CM, said on Monday.
Election fever has reached its peak in Baramati in the last phase of the campaign for the Maharashtra assembly polls with the rival Nationalist Congress Party factions led by Ajit Pawar and his uncle Sharad Pawar leaving no stone unturned.
A product of the 1942 Quit India movement, a Gandhian and a Socialist who remains closely connected with grassroot movements, Dr G G Parikh remains a familiar figure in Maharashtra.
Narwekar has come under intense criticism from the opposition, especially the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena for recognising the Shinde outfit as the "real" Shiv Sena.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Priyanka Chaturvedi on Wednesday took potshots at the rival Shiv Sena over its minister not finding a place in the reconstituted NITI Aayog.
As suspense over who will become the next Chief Minister of Maharashtra continues, Nationalist Congress Party leader Chhagan Bhujbal on Sunday backed his party's chief, Ajit Pawar, for the top post.
While at some places people who had turned up at polling booths early in the morning left without casting their vote after waiting in line for a long time, Sena-UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray alleged that the process was slowed down deliberately.
Prime Minister Narendra D Modi on Saturday blessed the newly wed couple Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant after their wedding that was attended by global celebrities, business tycoons and politicians.
Even before the first votes are counted in Maharashtra, fissures have emerged within the ruling Mahayuti and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on who will head the next government. Both camps are claiming the chief minister's post, with constituents in both camps laying claim over the chief minister's post. The MVA, consisting of the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP), and the Mahayuti, comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP, have expressed confidence that their respective alliance will form the next government after votes are counted on Saturday. While a majority of exit polls have predicted that Mahayuti will retain power, a few have favored the MVA.
Thackeray also declared the candidature of Satyajit Patil, Bharti Kamdi and Karan Pawar from Hatkanangale, Palghar, and Jalgaon constituencies, respectively.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday said that former Mumbai police chief Sanjay Pandey had been given a "target" to arrest him but the police officer could not succeed as he had done nothing wrong.
Voters, it is said, get the government they deserve. We will soon see what voters in Maharashtra choose. Till then, a sense of helplessness and scepticism hangs in the air, notes Ramesh Menon.
The Bombay high court on Friday upheld the tender awarded to an Adani Group firm by the Maharashtra government for the Dharavi slum redevelopment project in Mumbai, ruling there was no 'arbitrariness, unreasonableness or perversity' in the decision.
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.
Former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, the son of Bal Thackeray, and his family members did not attend the event.
