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LS polls 2024: Battle lines drawn between ex-allies Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP

The Osmanabad Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra will witness a contest between former allies Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). The Sena (UBT) has fielded sitting MP Omprakash Rajenimbalkar against Archana Patil, who is making her poll debut with the NCP. Home to the famous Tulja Bhavani temple that attracts lakhs of devotees from all over the state, Osmanabad -- now called Dharashiv -- is the seventh-largest city in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra. Although the state government has rechristened the district as Dharashiv, in the records of the Election Commission, the Lok Sabha constituency is still known by its old name of Osmanabad. The constituency comprising Osmanabad, Tuljapur, Omerga, Lohara, Kalamb, Bhoom, Paranda and Washi assembly seats will go to polls on May 7 in the third phase of the general elections. Former minister Rajenimbalkar won the 2019 Lok Sabha polls with a significant vote margin by defeating Ranajagjitsinha Patil, who contes

LS polls: NCP (SP) moves EC over poll symbol allocation in Baramati

The Nationalist Congress Party (SP) has filed a complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI) over the symbol of a trumpet-like instrument allotted to an independent candidate contesting from its stronghold, Baramati, in Maharashtra's Pune district. The NCP (SP) has claimed the ECI has allotted a trumpet-like symbol to independent candidate Shaikh Soyalshah Yunusshah and has identified it as "tutari". The ECI has allotted "a man blowing turha" (a traditional trumpet) as the poll symbol for the NCP (SP). The complaint filed by Laxmikant Khabiya, the poll representative of the party's candidate, Supriya Sule, stated that there is a similarity in both names, which can cause confusion among voters. Khabiya submitted the complaint to the returning officer on April 20. "The symbol given to the independent candidate is a trumpet. In Marathi, it cannot be called 'tutari'. We have requested the ECI to call the symbol 'trumpet' instead of 'tutari'," he stated in the complaint. The

Ram temple issue now over, nobody discussing it any more: Sharad Pawar

NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar said nobody was discussing the issue of Ram temple in Ayodhya any more, suggesting that the ruling BJP may not get any political benefit from it in the current Lok Sabha elections. He made the statement while speaking to a few reporters at Purandar in Pune district on Thursday. When asked about whether the Ram temple would play any crucial role in the ongoing elections, he said, "The issue of the Ram temple in Ayodhya is now over, and no one is discussing it any more." "During a meeting, some women pointed out and complained that although the idol of Lord Ram has been installed, goddess Sita's idol is not there," the former Union minister said. However, Pawar's remarks drew criticism from the BJP, with the party's state unit president Chandrashekhar Bawankule saying that the former chief minister should have gathered information about the Ram temple in Ayodhya before commenting. "Lord Ram is there in his child form, but Pawar saheb is just interested in

Modi destroying democracy, no difference between him and Putin: Pawar

Nationalist Congress Party (SP) supremo Sharad Pawar on Sunday said there was no difference between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin while accusing the former of slowly destroying democracy in the country. Pawar was speaking to reporters at Akluj in Solapur district, where he visited the residence of former deputy chief minister Vijaysinh Mohite Patil to discuss candidates for Madha and Solapur Lok Sabha seats. "Modi doesn't wish for anyone from the Opposition to get elected. Such a stance by the prime minister shows that there is no difference between him and Russia's Vladimir Putin, he said. The arrest of a serving chief minister (Arvind Kejriwal) when the model code of conduct is in place shows that Modi is slowly destroying parliamentary democracy and the country is heading towards autocracy, Pawar said. In a democracy, like a ruling party, the opposition side is equally important, he said. When asked about the BJP's manifesto for the Lok Sabha

People fed up with graft, inflation; want change in regime: Supriya Sule

People want a change in the country as they are fed up with corruption, unemployment and inflation, claimed NCP (SP) leader and MP Supriya Sule on Thursday. Sule, who has been fielded by her party from Baramati Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra's Pune district, accused the present government of being against women and farmers. The three-term parliamentarian and daughter of NCP founder Sharad Pawar is pitted against her sister-in-law and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra Pawar. Baramati will go to polls in the third phase on May 7 and votes will be counted on June 4. People want a change in the country as they are fed up with corruption, unemployment and inflation. As this government is against women and farmers, they want a change in the regime, Sule said on the sidelines of a protest organised by her party's city unit against the hike in power rates. Asked about speculations that NCP leader Eknath Khadse might join the BJP, Sule said she could not sa

23 politicians have got reprieve in corruption cases on joining BJP: Report

A newspaper investigation has revealed that with Opposition leaders switching to the ruling party, cases by central agencies have either halted or gone away completely

LS polls: NCP (SP) declares five candidates, retains Sule in Baramati

The NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) on Saturday declared its first list five candidates for Lok Sabha elections from Maharashtra, retaining Supriya Sule from Baramati, and fielding Nilesh Lanke, who switched sides from the Ajit Pawar camp, in Ahmednagar constituency. "Supriya Sule and Amol Kolhe have been retained from Baramati and Shirur constituencies, respectively," said state unit NCP (SP) chief Jayant Patil while declaring the list. Bhaskar Bhagre has been nominated from Dindori seat in Nashik district and former Congress MLA Amar Kale from Wardha. Bhagre will square off against Union minister and sitting BJP MP Bharati Pawar in Dindori (ST) seat. Lanke, the sitting MLA from Parner, will face off against BJP MP Sujay Vikhe Patil from the Ahmednagar constituency. NCP (SP), part of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), also comprising Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress, will contest 10 seats in Maharashtra, which sends 48 members to Lok Sabha.

NCP vs NCP: SC allows Ajit Pawar faction provisional use of 'clock' symbol

The Supreme Court has directed the Election Commission to recognise Sharad Pawar's NCP faction and allowed them to use a new symbol for the upcoming state and general elections

LS polls in Maharashtra gets interesting after splits in Shiv Sena, NCP

Splits in key political parties Shiv Sena and NCP have made the battle for the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra more interesting, besides the focus on traditional issues like unemployment and farmer suicides. Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra will be held in five phases on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13 and May 20. Counting of votes will be held on June 4. The BJP-Shiv Sena won 41 of the 48 seats in the 2019 polls, but the Sena has split since and a vast majority of the Bal Thackeray-founded party is now allied with the BJP. The Nationalist Congress Party also split as well with Ajit Pawar joining the ruling alliance in the state, led by Eknath Shinde. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP emerged the top party with 23 seats, followed by the undivided Sena with 18. The undivided NCP had emerged victorious on four seats, the Congress one, while the AIMIM and an Independent accounted for the remaining two. A total of 9.2 crore persons, including more than 50,000 centenarians, are ..

BJP will have to pay heavy price in LS polls for inflation: Sharad Pawar

The BJP-led government at the Centre will have to pay a heavy price in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as a result of rising prices of daily use items, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) president Sharad Pawar said on Wednesday. Talking to reporters in Nashik, Pawar also said the government's decisions related to onion export, its "arbitrary policies" on ethanol and sugar industry have created disappointment among the farming community, which will reflect in the upcoming general elections. "The rising prices of various daily use items, arbitrary policies related to onion, ethanol and sugar industry have upset the farming community in the state. The Union government will have to pay a heavy price for it in the upcoming parliamentary elections," he said. The former Union agriculture minister was referring to the Centre's ban on onion export as well as ban on the use of sugarcane juice for making ethanol. On the seat-sharing formula of the three Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA)

NCP(SP) chief Pawar declares Supriya Sule as party candidate from Baramati

Sharad Pawar, who heads the NCP (SP), on Saturday declared MP Supriya Sule as their candidate from Maharashtra's Baramati Lok Sabha seat, amid speculation that Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra Pawar could be fielded from there. The octogenarian leader made the announcement during a rally organised by the opposition bloc Maha Vikas Aghadi in Bhor tehsil of Pune district. Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut of Shiv Sena (UBT), an MVA constituent, was also present at the event. The Election Commission will announce the Lok Sabha poll schedule on March 14 or March 15, said Sharad Pawar. The EC has allotted man blowing turha (a traditional trumpet) symbol to his outfit. The elections will decide the future of our country. Nobody was so anxious about the future of the country so far, but now a change is needed. Today, PM Modi is not paying any attention towards farmer suicides. Instead, he is focussing all his attention only on Gujarat, he said. The NCP founder also accused the

Lok Sabha seat-sharing talks cliffhanger after splits, realignments in Maha

The BJP-led ruling alliance and the opposition bloc are united in their belief that winnability is the only formula for seat-sharing in Maharashtra, which sends the second highest number of 48 MPs to the Lok Sabha after 80 from Uttar Pradesh. Maharashtra, the country's most industrialised state and its premier FDI magnet, however, has seen a political churn since 2019, with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena breaking its long-time alliance with the BJP, and then suffering a split, just like the Sharad Pawar-founded Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). A major chunk of the Shiv Sena is now with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and it is allied with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The NCP also met a similar fate as Ajit Pawar walked away with a legislative majority last year and is also part of the ruling alliance. The splits and realignments have made seat-sharing a herculean task with claims and counter-claims, leaders from the ruling and opposition parties said. The BJP, which along wi

Being in power important to get development works done, says Dy CM Pawar

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has said being in power is important to expedite the developmental works as an elected representative and he has taken a different political stand without compromising on his ideology. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Pawar, who switched over to the ruling NDA last year, in a letter to his supporters on Monday said his objective was never to betray anyone or hurt anyone's sentiments. He said he found his working style similar to that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, under whose leadership the country is making progress. "I have taken a different political stand without compromising on my ideology. I want to assure that henceforth the NCP under my leadership will work for implementing its development blueprint and not indulge in personal criticism of senior leaders," the deputy CM said without naming NCP founder and his uncle Sharad Pawar. "I have been on the ruling as well as the opposition side a

Water woes: Supriya Sule, Rajesh Tope attend meet chaired by dy CM Pawar

Speaking to reporters ahead of the meeting, Sule said there are serious concerns about drinking water in her constituency, Baramati which she wants to bring to the attention of the government

Sharad Pawar faction of NCP gets 'man blowing turha' as party symbol

The Election Commission of India on Thursday allotted "man blowing turha (a traditional trumpet)" as the symbol of the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar, the outfit's spokesperson Clyde Crasto said. "Our candidates will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls on this symbol," he told PTI. The Sharad Pawar-founded NCP split in July last year after Ajit Pawar and eight other MLAs joined the Eknath Shinde government. The ECI later gave the party name and 'clock' symbol to the faction led by Deputy CM Ajit Pawar.

Ashok Chavan's exit from Cong prompted by Adarsh scam: Sharad Pawar

Former Union minister Sharad Pawar on Wednesday claimed the mention of Adarsh housing scam in a white paper tabled in Parliament was kind of a "threat", prompting Ashok Chavan's exit from the Congress. Chavan, who joined the BJP last week, has denied such claims. He is an accused in the Adarsh housing society scam wherein a 31-storey posh building in south Mumbai was constructed allegedly on land owned by the Defence Ministry without getting the requisite permissions and clearances. The scandal led to Chavan's resignation as the Maharashtra's chief minister in 2010. Asked about Chavan's exit from the Congress, Pawar told reporters in Kolhapur that though the development was surprising for everyone, he was not surprised personally. "The reason is that the BJP had tabled a white paper on their last 10 years of performance and their opinions about the opposition. In that white paper, there was a mention of the Adarsh society and Ashok Chavan. After that mention, we assumed that it co

NCP disqualification row: Notice issued to Maha speaker on Ajit Pawar plea

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday issued a notice to Maharashtra assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar and 10 MLAs belonging to Sharad Pawar's NCP faction on petitions challenging the speaker's decision to not disqualify them. Anil Patil, chief whip of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, had filed two petitions challenging the speaker's decision to not disqualify 10 MLAs from the Sharad Pawar camp. A division bench of Justices G S Kulkarni and Firdosh Pooniwalla on Wednesday also issued notice to the Maharashtra legislature secretariat and directed all the respondents to file their affidavits to the petitions. The HC posted the matter for further hearing on March 14. Patil in his petitions requested the high court to quash the speaker's recent order by declaring it bad in law, and also disqualify all the 10 legislators. The petitions challenged the "legality, propriety and correctness" of the order passed by Narwekar dismissing the disqualifica

Victory of voters: Sharad Pawar on SC ruling on his faction's name, symbol

Sharad Pawar on Monday described as a victory of voters the Supreme Court ruling that his faction can use the name 'NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar' till further orders. It is a win for the voters as the court observed that the voters of the country should not be undermined and questioned what about the fact that candidates have fought on the ticket of the original party, Pawar said in a statement. The apex court on Monday directed that Election Commission's order of February 6 allotting 'Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar' as the party name for the Sharad Pawar faction will continue till further orders. On the auspicious day of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Jayanti, the Supreme Court has granted us interim relief against the order of the Election Commission of India. We bow down to the Supreme Court for recognising us as Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar' in the interim, and having directed the Election Commission of India to consider our application for a symbol to

EC decision on NCP matter unfair, we are approaching SC: Sharad Pawar

Nationalist Congress Party founder Sharad Pawar on Saturday said the verdicts given by the Election Commission and Maharashtra assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar on the NCP matter were "unfair", and his faction would approach the Supreme Court to get back the party name and symbol. The Sharad Pawar-led group - now officially named as NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) - suffered a setback on Thursday after speaker Narwekar held that the faction led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, was the real NCP. He also rejected the disqualification petitions filed by both the rival groups against each other's MLAs. The ruling came days after the Election Commission held the Ajit Pawar-led faction as the real NCP and allotted him the party name and symbol 'clock'. "We had anticipated such a decision. The assembly speaker failed to maintain the dignity of his position. The decisions taken by the Election Commission and the speaker are unfair. Therefore, we are approaching the Supreme Court over the issue

Sharad Pawar seeks urgent hearing from SC over NCP faction recognition

Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar reaffirmed Ajit Pawar's faction as the legitimate NCP and dismissed calls for the disqualification of either faction's lawmakers