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. He also said Thackeray would soon respond to what has been written about him in the book. In his revised autobiography Lok Majhe Sangati', which focuses on events post-2015 and was released on Tuesday, Pawar wrote it was difficult to fathom why Thackeray as chief minister chose to visit Mantralaya, the state secretariat in south Mumbai, only twice during the coronavirus pandemic. This is wrong information. He (Thackeray) was regularly going to office. His visits (to Mantralaya) reduced during coronavirus pandemic because there was a central government directive to work from home, Raut said, adding that the prime minister, Union ministers and other chief ministers too were not going to office during the pandemic. In his book, .
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday said his father Bal Thackeray was disenfranchised for seeking votes in the name of religion, but PM Narendra Modi is using the Jai Bajrang bali' slogan to seek votes in Karnataka. May be election law provisions have changed now, Uddhav told reporters here. Modi on Wednesday urged the people of Karnataka to say 'Jai Bajrang bali' when they cast their vote to "punish" the Congress, as BJP leaders stepped up attack on the opposition party over its election manifesto promise of banning the Bajrang Dal. Bal Thackeray was banned from exercising his franchise in the late nineties for six years after he was found indulging in "corrupt practice by seeking votes in the name of religion" at a public rally. If Modi is saying Jai Bajrang bali, then I am also appealing to Marathi-speaking people in Karnataka to chant Jai Bhavani Jai Shivaji and vote, Uddhav said.
Uddhav Thackeray, who heads a faction of the Shiv Sena, on Thursday expressed confidence that Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar's decision to step down as the party chief will not dent the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance. Addressing a press conference here, the former Maharashtra chief minister said he will not do anything that hurt the opposition's unity. Thackeray also said he was not opposed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but was against dictatorship. "The developments in NCP won't dent the MVA," Thackeray said. He, however, declined to comment on Pawar's decision to step down as the party chief. Pawar on Tuesday announced his decision to step down as the NCP president, which has jolted his party and the opposition alliance. The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), NCP and Congress are partners in the MVA. The government headed by this alliance ruled Maharashtra from November 2019 to June 2022.
The Sena-UBT chief attacked the state government for its series of advertisements splurging public money and said that no government in the state had resorted to so much publicity
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray on Monday asked why PM Narendra Modi is silent on the abuse hurled against him and his family members. Modi said Congress abused him 91 times. But why are you silent when your people abuse me and my family, Thackeray said, addressing the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi rally in Mumbai. Their abusive language shows their culture, he said. I am asking the RSS: do you accept such an offspring (BJP), he added. Thackeray referred to the criticism he has faced for aligning with Congress and NCP. When I go with Congress and NCP, they (BJP) claim that I have forsaken Hindutva. If that is the case, then what about (RSS chief) Mohan Bhagwat's visit to a mosque, he said. Thackeray said he will visit Barsu, the site of the proposed refinery in Ratnagiri district, on May 6. I will go there and talk to the locals. How can you stop me? This is not POK, he said. Yes, I suggested the site for the refinery when I was the CM, but my letter (to Modi) did not spec
The Jammu and Kashmir unit of the Shiv Sena (UBT) on Friday demanded free registration and highway toll exemption for Amarnath pilgrims. The registration for the annual Amarnath pilgrimage began on April 17. The 62-day pilgrimage to the 3,880-metre-high cave shrine in south Kashmir is scheduled to start on July 1. Manish Sahni, the president of the Jammu and Kashmir unit of the Shiv Sena (UBT), said it was unfortunate that there was no positive response to their demands even after repeated representations to Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta. "If there is no positive response to our demands for free registration for pilgrims and toll exemption for their vehicles within a week, a nationwide agitation will be launched," he told reporters here.
Amid protests against a proposed oil refinery in Maharashtra's Ratnagiri district, state Industries Minister Uday Samant on Tuesday said the current site for the mega project was suggested by then-CM Uddhav Thackeray, while the Opposition urged the government to stop soil survey work and be sensitive in handling the situation arising out of the agitation. Samant's statement came in the backdrop of protests by local people in the coastal district against the soil survey work for the multi-billion dollar project over environmental damage concerns. In a fresh agitation, more than 30 women were detained by the police after they protested by lying on the road to stop government vehicles from entering the project site at Barsu village, around 400km from Mumbai, while the Opposition Shiv Sena (UBT) demanded an immediate end to atrocities on protesters. Samant alleged "misunderstandings" are being deliberately created about the project for political mileage and slammed the "politics of doub
With the Uddhav Thackeray faction's plea, challenging last year's change of guard in Maharashtra, pending arbitration in the Supreme Court, the former Maharashtra chief minister on Sunday said
He said that the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thakarey) and Congress will come together in the "fight for democracy"
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said that Hindutva is about nationalism and sacrificing life for the country.While addressing a public rally in Nagpur, Uddhav Thackeray said, "On one hand they read Hanuman Chalisa and on other hand, they go to mosques & listen Qawali, is this their Hindutva? They go and have 'Mann ki Baat in Urdu in UP, is this their Hindutva? Our Hindutva is about sacrificing life for the country"."Every time I am accused that I went with Congress and left Hindutva, is there no Hindu in Congress? There (RSS-BJP) Hindutva is 'Gaumutradhari Hindutva," he added.He further mentioned that Hindutva is about nationalism."They recently sprinkled cow urine at the place in Sambhajinagar where we conducted our public meeting. They should have drunk some cow urine, they would have become wiser, our Hindutva is about nationalism," he said.Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray further stated that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde went to Ayodhya for .
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday said Uddhav Thackeray and Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar discussed political developments in Maharashtra and the country during their meeting a day before, which he termed as "positive". Thackeray had visited Pawar's residence in south Mumbai on Tuesday late evening. Talking to reporters, Raut said Congress general secretary K C Venugopal has sought Thackeray's time for a meeting. He said Venugopal will meet Thackeray as a representative of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and the priority is to maintain the Opposition unity. The possible meeting between Thackeray and Venugopal will be held amid strained ties between Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) after Rahul Gandhi's remarks on late Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar, which were objected to by Thackeray. "A long and important meeting took place. Discussions took place on political developments in Maharashtra and the nation, and changing the direction of the future
"All the movable and immovable assets of shiv sena along with the frontal organisations and aligning organisations be transferred to the new party president as per the order of ECI," it stated
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has taken a swipe at the Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray by asking them to heed the words of Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar on the Adani issue. United States-based Hindenburg Research had alleged large scale stock manipulation and accounting fraud in the firms of billionaire Gautam Adani, leading to strident protests by the opposition Congress and others against the Narendra Modi government. The group had refuted the allegations. In an interview to NDTV, Pawar came out in support of the Adani Group and criticised the narrative around Hindenburg Research's report on the conglomerate. "Such statements were given by other individuals earlier too and there was a ruckus in Parliament for a few days but this time out-of-proportion importance was given to the issue," he said. "The issues that were kept, who kept them, we had never heard of these people who gave the statement, what is the background. When they .
The Shiv Sena (UBT) on Thursday called Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis a "failed" home minister while claiming the law and order situation in the state was bad and farmers were committing suicide. An editorial in the Sena (UBT) mouthpiece 'Saamana' also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not even giving a warning to China after it changed the names of 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh. Pakistan is being issued hollow threats, but what about China which has made "incursion" in the Indian territory, it said. Earlier this week, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray dubbed Fadnavis a worthless home minister after a woman worker from the Thackeray-led faction was allegedly attacked by activists of rival Shiv Sena in Thane. Fadnavis had then hit back saying he was a "bullet" (kartoos), while Thackeray was a weak chief minister who had sacrificed his ideology for the sake of power and need not be given importance. Notably, the Supreme Court recently made strong
Union Minister Narayan Rane on Saturday was acquitted by the Alibag court in a case pertaining to his 'provocative statements' against former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday summoned former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, his son Aditya Thackeray and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut on a defamation suit filed by MP Rahul Ramesh Shewale for allegedly levelling frivolous corruption allegations against him and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction. Justice Prateek Jalan admitted the defamation suit and issued summons to Uddhav, Aditya and Raut. The high court also asked Google, Twitter, Uddhav, Aditya and Raut to file their written statements within 30 days on the plea seeking removal of the alleged defamatory content from social media platforms. The court has posted the matter for further hearing on April 17. Shewale was represented through senior advocates Rajiv Nayar and Arvind Verma and lawyers Chirag Shah and Utsav Trivedi.
The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) on Monday said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's attack on freedom fighter V D Savarkar will lead to ebbing of sympathy he has gained due to his disqualification as Lok Sabha MP. An editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana' said the truth, which Gandhi is fighting for today, will not win by making defamatory statements against Savarkar. At a rally on Sunday, Uddhav Thackeray said he considers Savarkar as his "idol", and asked Gandhi to refrain from "insulting" him. Thackeray said the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance of three parties - Sena (UBT), Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) - was formed to protect democracy and it was necessary to work unitedly for it. "By making defamatory statements against Savarkar, the sympathy gained by Rahul Gandhi will start ebbing. This will, for sure, put the Maharashtra Congress in a uncomfortable position," the editorial said. Gandhi's remarks that he is not Savarkar to apologise will not affect t
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray on Wednesday squarely blamed his estranged cousin and former CM Uddhav Thackeray for many Shiv Sena leaders quitting the party and said as chief minister he was not ready to meet anyone during the COVID-19 pandemic. Addressing a rally of his party at the Shivaji Park in central Mumbai, the MNS leader blamed Uddhav Thackeray for many Shiv Sena leaders parting ways with him in the past, including Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and 39 MLAs supporting him, who raised a banner of revolt in June last year. The rally was organised on the occasion of Gudi Padwa, a festival which marks the start of the Marathi New Year. Raj Thackeray said he will renew his campaign to pull down loudspeakers from mosques if the states government does not take any action in the matter. The MNS chief demanded withdrawal of nearly 17,000 cases slapped on his party workers last year when they launched protests seeking removal of loudspeakers from mosques.
The Supreme Court wondered on Thursday as to how it can reinstate the Uddhav Thackeray government in Maharashtra when the chief minister had put in his papers even before facing the floor test, after the faction led by him pitched for setting aside the governor's June 2022 order to the CM to take a floor test. The Thackeray faction made vehement submissions before the court urging it to turn back the clock and restore the "status quo ante" (previously existing state of affairs) as it had done in 2016 when it reinstalled Nabam Tuki as the chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh. Senior lawyer Kapil Sibal, representing the Thackeray bloc, urged a five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud to rescind governor B S Koshyari's order for a floor test, a day after the apex court questioned his conduct in calling for a trust vote merely on the ground of differences between Shiv Sena MLAs. The bench took note of the submissions of senior advocate AM Singhvi, also ...
Activists of the rival Shiv Sena factions clashed over taking control of a shakha' or local office of the party in Maharashtra's Thane city on late Monday night, prompting the police to intervene to bring order. Members of the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and rival Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) engaged in a scuffle over establishing control of the 'shakha' in the Shivai Nagar area of the city located adjoining Mumbai. The Vartak Nagar police, under whose jurisdiction the area falls, rushed to the spot on being alerted about the clash and dispersed the warring groups. The high-pitched political drama, which went on for about an hour, started when activists of the Shiv Sena allegedly put up banners and sought to take over the 'shaka' from the rival party faction headed by former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. A video purportedly showing the clash between the rival groups and the police dispersing them went viral on social media platforms. The police