Page 28 - Maharashtra Assembly Elections

Maha BJP chief Bawankule criticises Thackeray amid rising political rift

Maharashtra BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule has launched a scathing attack on Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, claiming the former chief minister has abandoned the "bhagwa" (saffron) ideology and distanced himself from the legacy of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Bawankule's comments come in the wake of Thackeray's speech to party workers in Thane on Saturday, where he accused Chief Minister Eknath Shinde of capitulating to Delhi and declared the upcoming assembly elections as a battle against those who "hate" Maharashtra. During his address, Thackeray referred to his party workers as his 'wagh-nakh' (tiger-claw), a symbolic reference to a weapon used by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in historic battles. The former CM did not shy away from controversy, previously labelling BJP leader Amit Shah as "Ahmed Shah Abdali" after Shah accused Thackeray of leading the "Aurangzeb fan club". In a post on social media platform X, Bawankule derided Thackeray, asserting, "Aurangzeb fan

Assembly polls is fight against those who hate Maharashtra: Uddhav

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday accused Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde of "bowing" before Delhi, and said the coming assembly elections are a fight against those who "hate" the state. Speaking at a party workers' gathering in Thane city, Shinde's bastion, he also accused the state government of "bribing" voters with the announcement of its flagship scheme Mukhyamantri Ladki Bahin Yojana months ahead of the elections, due in October. Women should take benefit of the scheme as it is their own money, but should not compromise on self-respect, the former chief minister added. "They are bowing before Delhi," Thackeray said, attacking Shinde who heads the rival Shiv Sena, adding that the Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray's struggle was about refusing to bow before Delhi. "The state assembly fight will be with the ones who hate Maharashtra," Thackeray added. Earlier, as Thackeray arrived for the event at the Gadkari Rangayatan auditorium here, workers of the ..

Maha assembly polls: AAP to contest all 36 Mumbai seats, says party leader

The Aam Aadmi Party will contest the Maharashtra assembly polls and field candidates on all 36 seats in Mumbai, its leader Preeti Sharma Menon said on Monday. Addressing a press conference here, she also said the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP was part of the opposition INDI alliance, adding "the alliance was for the Lok Sabha polls and will continue to be together at the national level". "The AAP will contest all 36 seats in Mumbai. In the rest of Maharashtra, our colleagues and volunteers are galvanised and preparations are on in full swing," Menon said. AAP is a national party which under the visionary leadership of Kejriwal had emerged from a people's movement and is now in power in Delhi and Punjab, while it has MLAs in Goa and Gujarat as well as MPs, she asserted. In just 10 years, the AAP has demonstrated the "Delhi model" of development, under which quality education, healthcare, water and electricity is provided free to all and that too without corruption and without debt, she ..

Maharashtra polls: MNS to contest Worli seat against Aaditya Thackeray

With the lead of Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate falling to less than 7,000 in Worli in the recent Lok Sabha polls, the MNS senses an opportunity and is likely to field Sandeep Deshpande from this assembly seat currently held by Aaditya Thackeray. A home to some of India's wealthiest residents, Worli, part of Mumbai South Lok Sabha constituency, is marked by high-rises and thriving business hubs. However, it also contains dilapidated chawls awaiting redevelopment, such as the BDD chawls and police colonies. Many slum rehabilitation projects are stalled, and some redeveloped buildings have not provided the promised monthly rentals to residents. On Saturday, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray met Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to discuss issues plaguing Worli. The meeting is significant, given the focus on Worli-related concerns. Following the meeting, Shinde directed officials to prioritise addressing Worli's issues, according to the Chief Minister's Office. MNS leade

Will quit politics if reports of Delhi visit proven right: Ajit Pawar

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who heads the ruling NCP, on Friday said he would quit politics if the veracity of the reports about him visiting New Delhi in disguise to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah before his party forged an alliance with the BJP, was proven. But if the reports are found to be wrong, those who made these allegations against him should quit politics, he challenged the leaders from the opposition parties, as he alleged that efforts were on to defame him. Reports published in a section of the media claimed that during an informal interaction held recently, Pawar himself said that he held some meetings with Amit Shah in the national capital on the alliance between the two parties. During that interaction, he reportedly said, "I used to wear a mask and a cap during air travel while going to Delhi to attend those meetings. I had changed my name also for air travel." Latching on to his reported statements, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the NCP (SP) leaders

Pawar vs Pawar: SC seeks Ajit Pawar's response in NCP faction dispute

Sharad Pawar's NCP faction was granted provisional use of the party name and clock symbol following Ajit Pawar's split from the party ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections

Parties struggle with seat-sharing as Maharashtra Assembly elections near

And this much is clear: That in the upcoming Assembly election, negotiations over seat-sharing will be as important as actual outreach to voters

Ahead of Maharashtra polls, BJP and Cong announce teams for media connect

The BJP and the Congress have announced their teams to engage with the media ahead of the Maharashtra assembly polls, which are likely to be held in October. The BJP, which is part of the ruling alliance in he state, released a list of more than 30 leaders who will speak to the media at 9am and 4pm everyday. The list includes new entrants Ashok Chavan, who was a former Congress chief minister, and lawyer Ujjwal Nikam as well as Pankaja Munde, who was recently elected as MLC. The state BJP media coordinator Navnath Ban will coordinate with all the leaders. Apart from these three, Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar, former Union minister Raosaheb Danve , BJP group leader in the legislative council Pravin Darekar, state ministers Sudhir Mungantiwar, Girish Mahajan, MLAs Nitesh Rane, Atul Bhatkalkar, Ram Kadam and senior party leader and vice president Madhav Bhandari have also been appointed as spokespersons. Newly elected Pune MP and Union minister Murlidhar Mohol has been appointed by .

Full credit to PM Modi, CM Shinde for weakening left extremism: Deora

Shiv Sena MP Milind Deora credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde for "unambiguously weakening left-wing extremism."His comments came days after 12 Naxals were killed in an encounter in the Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra on July 17.In a post on X, Milind Deora said, "Full credit to @narendramodi Ji & @mieknathshinde Ji for unambiguously weakening left-wing extremism. This is precisely how the #Maharashtra Government ensured a Rs10,000 crore steel plant creating 7,000 jobs came to #Gadchiroli, a former Naxal hotbed".He added, "I recall how far-left elements tried to prevail over the UPA's efforts to weed out Maoist insurgent groups."After the encounter, Superintendent of Police, Gadchiroli, Neelotpal, told ANI, "All armed formations/cadres in Uttar Gadchiroli have been neutralised by the police. After this operation, Uttar Gadchiroli is naxal-free now. Despite the rain and overflowing rivers and canals, our police personnel carried ..

Maharashtra BJP prez Bawankule alleges conspiracy in voters registration

Chandrashekhar Bawankule, BJP president in Maharashtra, said that at least 3000 voters were registered for two Assembly constituencies, who, according to him, belonged to one particular community

Maharashtra govt declares job training and stipend scheme ahead of polls

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday announced a job training and stipend scheme for youth, tentatively named 'Ladka Bhau' Yojana, days after it introduced a monthly financial assistance scheme for eligible women. Shinde declared broad features of the new scheme, primarily targeting men, at Pandharpur in Solapur district on the occasion of Ashadhi Ekadashi. "Some people said that 'Ladki Bahin Yojana' (for women) has been launched; what about 'Ladka Bhau' (beloved brother)? We are now announcing a scheme for Ladka Bhau where job seekers who are class 12 pass will receive Rs 6,000, diploma holders will get Rs 8,000, and those with a bachelor's degree will get Rs 10,000. They will receive this stipend from the government during their on-job training in the industry," Shinde told reporters. The candidate will do the apprenticeship and get a job. Simultaneously, the industry will benefit from the trained manpower, he said, adding that the apprenticeship will be funded by

Illegal sand mining: SC seeks response from 4 states, warns of Rs 20 K fine

The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought responses from Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh within six weeks on a plea seeking investigation into illegal sand mining cases and the termination of leases of entities involved in it. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Sanjay Kumar said a fine of Rs 20,000 will be imposed if the states don't file counter affidavits in six weeks. Though Rs 20,000 fine is not commensurate with the value of illegal sand mining alleged, it will force the states to file the affidavits, Justice Khanna said. The bench listed the matter for November. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for petitioner M Alagarsamy, submitted that the petition dates back to 2018 and said the four states had not filed affidavits on the status of illegal sand mining despite notices being issued to them. Bhushan, assisted by advocate Pranav Sachdeva, said massive illegal sand mining is going on. This is damaging the environment and till now only the Punjab ...

Highlights of the day: My aim is to make Mumbai a global fintech capital, says PM Modi

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Three Maha Congress MLAs skip key party meeting ahead of council polls

Amid talks of cross-voting, three of the 37 Congress MLAs in Maharashtra skipped a meeting called by the party ahead of the legislative council polls on Friday. Zeeshan Siddique, Jitesh Antapurkar and Sanjay Jagtap were absent in the meeting held here on Thursday night. Antapurkar is close to former chief minister Ashok Chavan, who switched to BJP a few months ago, while Zeeshan's father Baba Siddique joined the Ajit Pawar-led NCP ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Sanjay Jagtap skipped the meeting as he was in wari' (annual pilgrimage procession) and on his to the temple town of Pandharpur. The party said Jagtap had informed the leadership about his absence. However, Sulabha Khodke, whose husband is a close aide of Ajit Pawar, and Hiraman Khoskar, said to be in touch with the NCP, attended the meeting. Senior Congress leader Nitin Raut told PTI that his party is in a comfortable position. It is the ruling alliance which is scared which is why they have held their MLAs hostage, ...

'Ladki Bahin' scheme: Maha Govt to use existing data of women beneficiaries

The existing data of women beneficiaries available with various departments will be used for the Maharashtra government's recently-announced 'Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin' scheme, an official said. Officials from various departments held a meeting in this connection on Wednesday. Under the scheme, announced ahead of state assembly elections due in October, eligible women will get Rs 1,500 per month. "The idea is to use the existing data to reduce the burden of data collection to some extent," an official in the Women and Child Development (WCD) department said. "Departments like Rural Development and Food and Civil Supplies already have the database of women beneficiaries, collected for older schemes. These departments have been asked to share the data with the Women and Child Development department which is going to implement the Ladki Bahin Yojana," an official from the Food and Civil Supplies department said. The WCD department will consolidate the data, bank accounts and oth

Govt buys onions at 74% higher prices in Maharashtra ahead of state polls

In 2023, the average rate at which the Centre procured onions from Maharashtra was Rs 16.93 per kg. This year, it is procuring at around Rs 29.5 per kg via direct benefit transfer

Will Congress tie up with AAP for Delhi polls? Jairam Ramesh answers

Jharkhand, Haryana, and Maharashtra are slated to go to the polls later this year, while Assembly elections in Delhi will be held early next year

Can BJP, allies overcome caste arithmetic challenge in Maharashtra polls

In the 2024 LS polls, caste played its part with mutating combinations across the state, writes SHREYAS UBGADE

Didn't change parties, corruption allegations never proved: Ajit Pawar

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has appealed to people to support him for development, asserting that he has stuck to his party ever since entering politics and that the allegations of corruption against him were never proved. People are my only party. Whatever I do, their welfare is my top priority. I always think how people will benefit, said the NCP leader in a video message. Pawar's video message, appealing to the people to back him, comes amid speculations of discontent within the ruling Mahayuti alliance, comprising BJP, NCP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, after its poor performance in Lok Sabha polls in the state. In this year's Lok Sabha elections, the Mahayuti bagged just 17 of the state's 48 seats, with the BJP's tally coming down to nine from the 23 (it won in 2019). While the Sena got 9 seats, NCP won only 1. By contrast, the MVA bloc of Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) won 30 seats. Defending the budget he presented last week in the state ...

Supriya Sule welcomes Ladki Bahin scheme, calls it 'election jumla'

The Maharashtra government's Ladki Bahin' scheme for women is good but its announcement and implementation just months ahead of the assembly elections is nothing but a jumla (gimmick), said NCP (SP) Lok Sabha member Supriya Sule on Thursday. Under the state government's Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana' announced last week in the budget, eligible women will be given Rs 1,500 per month. As the Maharashtra elections are hardly 2 to 3 months away, a shower of jumlas' was expected from the state government, the Baramati MP told reporters here. Maharashtra assembly polls are due in October. The scheme is good in the wake of growing unemployment and inflation. The state government tried to give support to women but the scheme has many conditions and riders, said Sule when asked about the scheme's implementation. She said though she welcomes the programme, its introduction before the state polls is nothing but an election jumla'. The senior NCP (SP) leader said elections are being