NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar has said that the Z plus security cover accorded to him could be an arrangement to get authentic information about him as Maharashtra assembly polls are around the corner. The Centre on Wednesday accorded Z plus the highest category of armed VIP security cover to Pawar, official sources had said. Asked about the security upgrade for him, the 83-year-old politician told the media in Navi Mumbai on Thursday that he wasn't aware of the reason behind the move. A home ministry official told me that the government has decided to give three persons Z plus security and I was one of them. I asked who the other two were. I was told RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and Union home minister Amit Shah, said Pawar. Maybe since elections are approaching, this can be an arrangement to get authentic information (about me), he quipped. A team of 55 armed personnel from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has been earmarked as part of Pawar's Z plus security cover. A threat .
NCP (SP) Chief Sharad Pawar has sided with the candidates agitating in Pune demanding postponement of the MPSC prelims exam, scheduled for August 25, warning that he would join the protest if the government doesn't clarify its stand. Many job-seekers, preparing for the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) preliminary exam, have been protesting since Tuesday night demanding a different date as it clashes with a banking exam on the same day. NCP (SP) legislator Rohit Pawar has joined the agitation and has been sitting with the protesting candidates. The protesters also want the selection for 258 posts from the agricultural department done through the MPSC exam. It is the responsibility of the state government to consider the interests of students taking the MPSC exam However, it seems, the rulers are not taking it seriously. By tomorrow (Thursday), if the government does not clarify its stand, I will go to the agitation venue and take part in the agitation to ensure justice
The Centre on Wednesday accorded the highest category of armed VIP security cover -- Z plus -- to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP-SP) chief Sharad Pawar, official sources said. The Union Home Ministry has asked the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) to extend the cover to the 83-year-old former chief minister of Maharashtra. A team of 55 armed CRPF personnel has been earmarked for the task. A threat assessment review by central agencies has recommended a strong security cover to Pawar. The Centre has accorded him a Z plus cover to be protected by the CRPF VIP security wing, the sources said. A CRPF team is already in Maharashtra to take up the task, they said. The VIP security cover categorisations begin from the highest Z+ followed by Z, Y+, Y and X.
A group of Maratha quota activists confronted NCP (SP) Maharashtra unit chief Jayant Patil and sought the party's stand on the issue of reservations for the community. The incident took place during the Sharad Pawar-led party's 'Shivrajya Yatra' in Badnapur here on Sunday. Patil was accompanied by Lok Sabha MP Amol Kolhe and MLA Rajesh Tope. The activists wanted Patil to make a statement on the party's stand on granting reservations to Marathas in jobs and education. The NCP (SP) leader experienced a similar episode in Ghanswanghi, which is just a few kilometres away from Antarwali Sarati, the epicentre of the Maratha quota stir being led by activist Manoj Jarange. In Bhokardan, during an event associated with the yatra, several people indulged in sloganeering, leading to Patil not delivering his speech, eye witnesses said. Patil ended the event by saying Tope had spoken well so there was no need for him to add anything more. He also admonished the crowd for indiscipline, and ...
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.
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday said he will back any candidate announced by the Congress and NCP (SP) as Maha Vikas Aghadi's chief ministerial face. Addressing party workers of the opposition bloc MVA here, Thackeray said the assembly polls are a fight to preserve Maharashtra's self-respect. Maharashtra assembly elections are likely to be held in October or November. The MVA comprises the Sena (UBT), Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) and Congress. Uddhav Thackeray will back any candidate announced by Congress and NCP (SP) as the CM face of MVA. I don't have the feeling that I am fighting for myself but for the rights of Maharashtra, Thackeray said. He insisted that the chief ministerial candidate must be decided first, rather than by the logic of the party that wins the most seats in the elections. Thackeray asked the MVA cadres to rise above self-interest and fight for the sake of protecting Maharashtra's pride and interest. He also urged them to be the ambassadors of t
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
NCP Rajya Sabha member Fauzia Khan on Tuesday expressed concern over the exposure of children to the violent content of online video games and asked the government to regulate the content. Raising the issue during the Zero Hour in the Upper House, she said that in the digital age, children are increasingly exposed to online video games. Many of these games contain themes unsuitable to small children, such as wanton violence, foul language, substance abuse, sexual content, gender stereotypes, and disregard for law, she noted. "Online games like PubG, Call of Duty, GTA, and Blue Whale Challenge have become immensely popular among the children. This leads to the development of aggressive behaviour in them as they grow up. Excessive exposure can also cause anxiety and phobias, especially in the case of gore content," Khan said. She also referred to an incident in Pune where a 15-year-old boy influenced by a video game, tragically committed suicide by jumping from a 14th-floor ...
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar will begin the Jan Samman Yatra, an outreach programme of the ruling NCP ahead of the state assembly election, from Dindori in Nashik district on August 8, his party announced on Monday. Speaking at a press conference, NCP working president Praful Patel said the Ajit Pawar-led party and its allies in the ruling Mahayuti, BJP and Shiv Sena, have to fight the upcoming election together and win. The NCP put up a united front, with the entire top leadership, including Patel, senior leader Chhagan Bhujbal, and cabinet ministers and MLAs, remaining present at the press conference, where the yatra schedule was announced. The NCP leadership has insisted that the Jan Samman Yatra was not limited to constituencies of NCP MLAs. Party leaders will also visit seats held by allies Shiv Sena and BJP, as the party wishes to present a united face of Mahayuti, they said. Patel said Pawar would meet NCP workers to boost their confidence and find time for
Former Maharashtra home minister and senior NCP (SP) leader Anil Deshmukh on Sunday claimed Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was taking "political vengeance" by levelling allegations against him using sacked police officer Sachin Waze. Talking to reporters here, Deshmukh challenged Fadnavis to make Justice Chandiwal Commission report public, claiming he had been given a clean chit. "Retired Justice Chandiwal conducted an inquiry for 11 months on the allegations against me by former Mumbai commissioner Parambir Singh and dismissed police officer Sachin Waze, who had clearly stated that neither I nor my PA had asked him for money or given him any," the NCP (SP) leader said. Waze on Saturday reiterated bribery allegations against Deshmukh, prompting the opposition to question the "timing" and Fadnavis assuring an inquiry. Deshmukh resigned as home minister in 2021 after Param Bir Singh accused him of setting a target to collect Rs 100 crore a month from bars and restaurants in
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
The interim bail was made absolute or permanent till disposal of the regular bail plea filed by him before the Bombay High Court
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
And this much is clear: That in the upcoming Assembly election, negotiations over seat-sharing will be as important as actual outreach to voters
Pawar said that despite having contested Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha together as Mahayuti, every party will contest local body election as per their strengths
NCP Pimpri-Chinchwad Unit Chief Ajit Gavahane and three others from the unit have quit Ajit Pawar's NCP faction to join Sharad Pawar
Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal on Monday met NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar at his residence here and sought his intervention into the Maratha quota issue and objections over it by OBC leaders. Speaking to reporters later, Bhujbal said had a meeting with Pawar for nearly one-and-a half-hours and the latter told him that he would discuss the matter with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and other leaders in the next two days. Bhujbal, an OBC leader who belongs to the rival NCP led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, met former Union minister Sharad Pawar at his 'Silver Oak' residence in Mumbai. The visit came a day after his veiled attack at Sharad Pawar for the opposition's boycott of an all-party meeting on the Maratha quota issue. Leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which comprises the Congress, NCP (SP) and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), did not turn up at the all-party meeting convened by CM Shinde on July 9, claiming the opposition was not taken into confidence on th
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West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday met Nationalist Congress Party (SP) president Sharad Pawar during her first visit to Mumbai after the declaration of Lok Sabha poll results more than a month ago. Banerjee, who heads the Trinamool Congress, met Pawar at his residence 'Silver Oak' in south Mumbai. The Trinamool Congress leader, who is on a day-long visit to Mumbai, earlier met Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray at his residence "Matoshree" in Bandra. The Trinamool Congress, the NCP (SP) and the Shiv Sena (UBT) are constituents of the opposition INDIA bloc. This was Banerjee's first visit to Mumbai after the June 4 Lok Sabha results which saw the INDIA bloc putting up better-than-expected performance. In Maharashtra, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) bagged 30 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats, stunning the ruling Mahayuti, which comprises the BJP, the Shiv Sena and the NCP. Constituents of the MVA, including the Congress, are members of the INDIA alliance at ..
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 ...