Page 8 - Ajit Pawar

NCP cancels party programmes scheduled for today over killing of Siddique

Calling the incident 'extremely unfortunate,' CM Shinde told the media that two suspects have been arrested, with one still at large

All is well, had another event: Ajit Pawar on leaving cabinet meet early

"I had to leave early to attend a scheduled programme at Ahmedpur in Marathwada region," the NCP chief said. "All the cabinet decisions taken yesterday have my approval," he added

Adequate monetary provision for 'Ladki Bahin' scheme: Dy CM Ajit Pawar

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday said adequate monetary provision has been made for the 'Ladki Bahin Yojana', the state government's financial assistance scheme for women. Pawar was responding to the opposition's criticism that the scheme was putting a financial strain on the state treasury. The 'Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana' is a flagship programme of the Eknath Shinde-led Mahayuti government, under which eligible women are given Rs 1,500 assistance per month. "I am the Finance Minister of the state. I can confirm that our annual revenue stands at around Rs 42-43 lakh crore. We are adhering to the fiscal framework designed for the state by the Centre, and we have not exceeded those calculations. I have handled the finance portfolio for over 10 years and presented several budgets during that time," he said while talking to reporters. Salaries, pensions, repayment of the loan have to be given priority in the budget, and the remaining funds are used .

Talks positive, decision soon on seat-sharing: CM Shinde after meeting Shah

Ahead of the Maharashtra assembly polls, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has met Chief Minister Eknath Shinde as well as Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. Though details of the meeting, which took place on Tuesday night, were not known, CM Shinde later said the meet was positive and "everything was going on smoothly." After the meeting, when reporters asked Shinde at the city airport about seat-sharing, the CM said, "The meeting was positive and a decision will be taken soon. Talks are moving ahead positively with co-ordination." Senior BJP leader Amit Shah is on a two-day visit to Maharashtra from Tuesday. The ruling Mahayuti partners -- Shiv Sena led by Shinde, BJP and the Ajit Pawar-headed NCP -- have been holding discussions on seat-sharing for the state assembly polls, which are likely to be held in November. Union ministers Amit Shah and Bhupender Yadav, CM Shinde and his deputy Fadnavis reached a hotel in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar for a

Give new poll symbol to Ajit Pawar led NCP too: Sharad Pawar group

NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule has said they have requested the Supreme Court to treat the two NCP factions equally and just as their party was given a new poll symbol, the same should be followed for the rival group led by Ajit Pawar. The NCP (SP) has sought "natural justice" from the Supreme Court, Lok Sabha member Sule told reporters on Saturday. The move comes ahead of the state assembly elections, likely to be held in November. Ajit Pawar along with several other MLAs joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government in July 2023, leading to a split in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) founded by his uncle Sharad Pawar. The NCP, founded by Sharad Pawar, had 'clock' as its election symbol before the split. In February this year, the Election Commission allotted the NCP name and the 'clock' symbol to the Ajit Pawar-led group. On March 19, the top court allowed the Sharad Pawar faction to use 'Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar' as its name along with the symbol of man blowing t

Some from a party using offensive language against a community: Ajit Pawar

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has said that certain individuals from a party were making objectionable remarks targeting a specific community, asserting that the NCP strongly opposes such language. He was apparently referring to BJP MLA Nitesh Rane, who in a recent video can be seen telling a gathering that they should have business transactions only with Hindus. Kankvali MLA Nitesh Rane, son of former Union minister Narayan Rane, was earlier in the eye of a storm for threatening Muslims over the community's protests against offensive remarks by Nashik-based spiritual leader Ramgiri Maharaj. Addressing a gathering in Chakan here, Pawar said on Thursday, Today, certain individuals from a political party use denigrating language targeting a particular community and religion. We do not support such language and we strongly oppose it. This kind of objectionable language creates rift in society. He also asked the gathering not to be emotional while voting and sought their

Maha CM Shinde launches campaign to raise awareness on 10 govt schemes

Ahead of the Maharashtra assembly polls, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has launched a campaign to create awareness on 10 schemes of his Mahayuti government catering to the youth, women, farmers and elderly people. Under the 'Ladki Bahin Kutumb Bhet Abhiyaan' launched on Monday, Shinde's party Shiv Sena aims to reach out to more than one crore families in the state. The move comes amid cracks in the ruling alliance over the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana', with a Shiv Sena minister raising objection against ally NCP and its president Ajit Pawar for omitting Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's name from advertisements and promotional material of the government's flagship scheme. The state assembly polls are likely to be held in November. The CM, who launched the campaign on Monday, said his party workers will try to increase the awareness of 10 government schemes like the Mukhyamantri Ladki Bahin Yojana, which provides Rs 1,500 every month to eligible women in the state, the ...

Ajit Pawar's 'remorse' won't help him win poll from Baramati: Sanjay Raut

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday said there is no point in Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar "repenting" some of his political actions and claimed the NCP leader would lose the upcoming assembly poll from his home turf Baramati. Raut's remarks came after Ajit Pawar recently admitted publicly that he had made a mistake by fielding his wife Sunetra against his cousin and NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule, the daughter of his uncle Sharad Pawar, in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and said politics should not enter the home. Ajit Pawar joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government in the state last year along with some other NCP leaders, leading to a split in the party founded by Sharad Pawar. On Sunday, Ajit Pawar said he was satisfied with the development work he had carried out as a legislator, adding that people of Baramati for once must get an MLA other than him so they could make comparisons. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief has been MLA from Baramati since 1991. In the 20

Society doesn't like rift in families; realised my mistake: Ajit Pawar

Noting that society doesn't like rifts in families, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has said he experienced it and has already admitted his mistake, an apparent reference to the contest between his wife Sunetra and cousin Supriya Sule in the recent Lok Sabha polls. This is the second time in less than a month that NCP leader Pawar publicly admitted he had made a mistake by fielding his wife against NCP (SP) leader Sule, the daughter of his uncle Sharad Pawar, and noted politics should not enter the home. The "admission" of mistake came against the backdrop of poor performance by the NCP, one of the constituents of the Mahayuti alliance in the state, in its maiden general elections after a split in the party. Addressing the Jansamman rally organised by the NCP in Gadchiroli city on Friday, Ajit Pawar tried to discourage party leader and state minister Dharmarao Baba Aatram's daughter Bhagyashri from crossing over to the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP). Speculation is going ..

Funds transferred to 17 mn beneficiaries of Ladki Bahin scheme: CM Shinde

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday said the ambit of the Majhi Ladki Bahin Scheme will be expanded to cover 2.5 crore women even as the state government has transferred money into the bank accounts of 1.7 crore beneficiaries so far. The chief minister launched the second phase of the scheme at Reshimbagh ground here in the presence of Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, and Women and Child Welfare Minister Aditi Tatkare. "We were not born with a golden spoon. We belong to the family of farmers. Having experienced poverty, we understood why a scheme like this was necessary. We know the value of Rs 1,500," Shinde said. The Ladki Bahin Scheme provides monthly assistance of Rs 1,500 to married, divorced, and destitute women in the 21-60 age group with a Rs 2.5 lakh annual family income ceiling. The chief minister said the state government deposited money in the bank accounts of 1.7 crore women in the first phase of th

Time for BJP to throw NCP out of Mahayuti: NCP (SP) over 'nausea' jibe

The NCP (SP) on Friday latched onto Shiv Sena minister Tanaji Sawant's remark that he feels like vomiting after sitting next to NCP ministers, saying it's time for the BJP to throw Ajit Pawar's party out of Mahayuti. It's also the time for Ajit Pawar to "wake up and smell the coffee", said the rival party led by his uncle Sharad Pawar. The BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and NCP are the partners in the ruling coalition Mahayuti. NCP (SP) spokesperson Clyde Crasto said Sawant's remark shows that Mahayuti does not need the NCP any longer. The RSS' mouthpiece had questioned the BJP why they aligned with Ajit Pawar. The BJP cadre is also posing the same question, he said. Now, Shinde Sena leaders are saying derogatory things like feeling nauseating when they sit next to NCP leaders, Crasto said. The time has come when the BJP will, slowly but steadily, throw Ajit Pawar out of Mahayuti. All is not well and cracks are getting bigger by the day. "It is time for Ajit Pawar to wake up an

Ajit Pawar visits Malvan fort, vows to erect Shivaji statue at same spot

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday visited the Rajkot fort here where a 35-foot statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj collapsed earlier this week and vowed to erect a grand structure of the warrior king at the same place. In a post on X, Pawar called Shivaji the pride and self-respect of Maharashtra. Very soon, a grand statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj will be installed at the same place. This is my word, Pawar said. On Wednesday, Pawar apologised to the people of the state for the collapse of the structure, which was installed in the coastal Sindhudurg district's Malvan tehsil, around 480km from Mumbai. On Thursday, his party NCP also staged a protest against the collapse of the statue. Amid relentless attacks by the opposition over the episode, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Thursday asserted he would not hesitate to touch the feet of the warrior king 100 times and apologise for the incident if required. The government has set up a technical committee to

Statue collapse: NCP holds protest, says everyone has right to agitate

The Ajit Pawar-led NCP, which is part of the Maharashtra government, on Thursday staged silent protests across the state over the collapse of Shivaji Maharaj's statue and demanded action against those responsible, while the party's state chief asserted that everyone has the right to agitate. The 35-foot statue of the 17th century Maratha empire founder installed at Rajkot fort in Sindhudurg's Malvan tehsil collapsed on August 26, nearly nine months after it was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The incident has snowballed into a major political controversy with the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) targeting the Eknath Shinde-led Mahayuti government over it. The opposition leaders on Wednesday announced that on September 1, the MVA will take out a protest march in Mumbai against the statue collapse, while the ruling NCP also said it would stage silent protests in every district and tehsil of the state on Thursday and demand the installation of a stronger and larger statue o

Maha govt to allow women to lodge harassment complaints online: Ajit Pawar

The Maharashtra cabinet discussed PM Modi's instruction about online registration of women harassment cases and decided to adopt a different approach to prevent such incidents, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said on Monday. During a programme organised for "Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana" in Jalgaon on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi termed crimes against women an unpardonable sin and said the safety of women should be a priority. His strong remarks came against the backdrop of protests against the brutal rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Hospital and the sexual abuse of two four-year-old school girls in Badlapur near Mumbai. Modi pointed out that an entire chapter is dedicated to crimes against women and children in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and if a woman cannot reach the police station, she can file an e-FIR, and no one can make any changes at the police station level. Talking to reporters here, Pawar said, "PM Modi has instructed about fili

Sexual offenders should be castrated: Maharashtra deputy CM Ajit Pawar

Amid the outrage over the Badlapur sexual assault incident, Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Saturday said those guilty of offences against women should be castrated. He was speaking at an official program about the Mahayuti government's flagship 'Ladki Bahin' scheme for women at Yavatmal in eastern Maharashtra. The BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP government in the state would not spare anyone accused of offences against women, whoever the person may be, and a bill providing for a more stringent punishment in such offences has been forwarded to the President for the assent, he said. "I personally feel that when such perverts lay hand on our mothers-sisters, our daughters, they should face such a legal punishment that they should not think of (repeating the offence) again. To put it in my language, such persons' private organ should be removed....Some people are so vile, that this must be done," Pawar said. Alleged sexual assault of two kindergarten girls at a school at Badlapur in

I pay attention only to what Shinde, Bawankule, and Fadnavis say: Ajit

Maharashtra deputy CM Ajit Pawar on Monday said he is not bothered about his criticism by others and is only concerned about what key leaders of the ruling Mahayuti alliance say. Pawar's remarks came a day after a group of BJP workers led by the party's Junnar chief Asha Buchake waved black flags at his convoy. I don't have anything to do with what other people say. I pay attention to the key people, CM Eknath Shinde of Shiv Sena and Chandrashekhar Bawankule and Devendra Fadnavis of the BJP, Pawar told reporters during his Jan Sanman Yatra in Mumbai. The Nationalist Congress Party, led by Pawar, had demanded that Fadnavis, who also hold the Home portfolio, to clarify as to whether he approved of the behaviour of his BJP workers. Buchake had claimed that the NCP is trying to promote its candidate in the Junnar seat for the upcoming assembly polls. They are trying to strangle us Therefore we have adopted an aggressive stand, she told reporters after the protesters raised slogans ...

Had to go with Ajit Pawar as my bank faced troubles: NCP MLA Shingne

NCP MLA Rajendra Shingne has claimed that due to troubles faced by a cooperative bank with which he was associated, he had to side with Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar after the party split last year. Ajit Pawar and several other MLAs joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government in the state last year, leading to a split in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) founded by Sharad Pawar. Shingne on Saturday shared the dias with NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar at a programme in Wardha. Speaking to mediapersons on the sidelines of the programme, the MLA, representing Sindkhed Raja in Buldhana district, said he has always respected Sharad Pawar. Shingne said he worked under the leadership of Sharad Pawar for around 30 years and that the latter has made a huge contribution to his political career and he will always be indebted to him. "However, of late, due to troubles faced by my district cooperative bank (in Buldhana) and helplessness, I had to go to them (ruling side) with Ajit Dada.

Mahayuti govt committed sin of fixing price for sisters' love: Sule

NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule on Friday hit out at the Mahayuti government in Maharashtra over its flagship 'Ladki Bahin' scheme, accusing it of committing the sin of fixing a price for sisters' love. She said leaders in the government remembered their sisters only after the Lok Sabha elections. The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) of the Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and NCP (SP) performed better than the ruling alliance in the state in the parliamentary elections. The Eknath Shinde-led government comprising Shiv Sena, BJP and NCP has introduced the 'Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana' to provide a financial assistance of Rs 1,500 per month to eligible women. The government will formally launch the scheme on August 17 by transferring the first instalment to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries. Speaking at the meeting of the opposition bloc MVA here, she said, "There is no money involved in the emotion of love. But the state government has linked the brother-sister relationship

Leading NCP huge responsibility, seat-sharing talks moving positively: Ajit

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who heads the Nationalist Congress Party, has said that helming the NCP away from the shadows of his uncle and founder Sharad Pawar after the split is a huge responsibility. In an interview with PTI during his Jan Sanman Yatra, Pawar said on Thursday that the seat-sharing talks among the ruling Mahayuti partners NCP, Shiv Sena and BJP for the assembly polls are proceeding positively. Ajit Pawar and his loyalist MLAs broke away from NCP in July last year to align with the ruling alliance. He later got the party name and its clock symbol. Party founder Sharad Pawar, who now heads NCP (SP), is a part of the opposition bloc Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), also comprising Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress. This is the biggest responsibility that I have ever received. Till now, (Sharad) Pawar saheb was our leader and our chief. When I joined politics in 1991, there was no NCP by then. When I was in Congress, there were several leaders. Therefore, there

Made mistake by fielding my wife against my sister in LS polls: Ajit Pawar

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has said he made a mistake by fielding his wife Sunetra Pawar against his cousin Supriya Sule in the recent Lok Sabha polls. One should not allow politics to enter home, Pawar, who is currently on a statewide 'Jan Samman Yatra', told Marathi news channel Jai Maharashtra. As part of his mass outreach programme ahead of the state assembly polls, the deputy CM has been promoting the government's 'Mukhyamantri Ladki Bahin Yojana', aimed at providing financial assistance of Rs 1,500 per month to women. In the Lok Sabha elections held earlier this year, Sunetra Pawar unsuccessfully contested the election from Baramati seat against sitting NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule, daughter of Ajit Pawar's uncle Sharad Pawar. Sunetra Pawar was later elected to the Rajya Sabha. In July last year, Ajit Pawar and a number of other MLAs joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government, leading to a split in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) founded Sharad Pawar. The Electi