Mumbai:

After coming second in Maharashtra in the recently-held Lok Sabha polls, sources said the ruling alliance in the state plans to fight the assembly elections without a Chief Minister face. Elections in the state are slated to be held in September-October this year.

The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance won 17 seats in Maharashtra in the Lok Sabha polls, while the Opposition alliance won 30.

Bharatiya Janata Party is keen on fielding over 160 candidates to contest for the 288-member legislative assembly. The alliance is also unlikely to project a chief ministerial face opting instead for a collective leadership approach, a blow to Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde.

Elections for the Maharashtra Assembly, which has 288 seats, will be a straight face-off between the Mahayuti and the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance. The ruling Mahayuti – part of the larger NDA alliance – consists of the BJP, the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar wing of the NCP.

Sources within the party also said that Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party will contest the elections as part of the alliance, ending speculation about his future. After Ajit Pawar’s NCP won just one Lok Sabha seat, there was a strong buzz that MLAs from his party were looking to jump ship and return to the faction of the party led by Sharad Pawar.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi, which is under the INDIA umbrella, has the Congress, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) as its key constituents.

BJP cadres have been actively working to increase their voter base after the Lok Sabha poll jolt. The party registered a big win in last week’s MLC polls. The BJP fielded five candidates, including Pankaja Munde, the daughter of late senior leader Gopinath Munde. All five won. The Shinde Sena and Ajit Pawar’s NCP named two each. All four won.

This is also only the second time that elections were held in Maharashtra’s unique political environment, where the split of two regional parties has led to two Shiv Senas and two NCPs – under very similar but different names – being pitted against each other. The Lok Sabha polls were the first round and parties from both sides and both sides pulled out all stops to ensure that they came out tops in the second. The MLC polls were dubbed as the semi-finals, a precursor to the upcoming assembly polls where both alliances would want to emerge victorious.

Mumbai:

The tiger claw that Maratha emperor Chhatrapati Shivaji is believed to have used to kill General Afzal Khan is back in Maharashtra after 350 years. The state government has brought it on loan from London’s Victoria and Albert Museum for three years and put it on display at the Satara in western Maharashtra.

The weapon brought from London has a bulletproof cover and security was strengthened for it. It will be kept at a museum in Satara for the next seven months.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, his Deputy Devendra Fadnavis and other leaders attended the function to inaugurate it.

History says in 1649, Shivaji — who established Maratha empire after a successful rebellion against the Bijapur Sultanate — had to parley with Bijapur general Afzal Khan.

Smelling treachery in the proposed unarmed meeting, he secretly wore a chain-mail shirt under his clothes and concealed a bagh nakh in his right hand. When the two leaders met and formally embraced,  Afzal Khan tried to stab him with a knife he had brought. Shivaji then killed him with the bagh nakh.

The event took place at the foot of Pratapgarh fort, which is in present-day Satara.

The loan of the legendary weapon comes ahead of the assembly election in Maharashtra, and is expected to be a talking point in favour of the ruling alliance.  

Shivaji has been a Maratha icon revered especially by the undivided Sena and the loan of the Bagh Nakh is expected to strengthen the credentials of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who is still hoping to be seen as carrying the political legacy of the late Balasaheb Thackeray – Uddhav Thackeray’s father and the founder of Shiv Sena.

The assembly election due by the end of this year has been a matter of concern for the ruling alliance, which has been outperformed in the state by the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi.

In 2019, the BJP – allied with the undivided Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray – won 23 of 25 Lok Sabha seats it contested in Maharashtra. The Shiv Sena contested the other 23 and won 18.

This time, the BJP won just nine seats. Its allies — the splinter units of the Sena led by Eknath Shinde and NCP led by Ajit Pawar — won only eight seats together..

On the other side, the Congress won 13 seats, the Sena faction led by Uddhav Thackeray won nine seats and the faction of NCP led by Sharad Pawar won 8 seats.

New Delhi:

BJP MP Kangana Ranaut on Wednesday defended her ally and Shiv Sena’s Eknath Shinde over Shankaracharya of Jyotirmath’s “betrayal” remark.

In an apparent jibe at Mr Shinde, the Maharashtra Chief Minister, Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati said that in tenets of Hinduism, treachery is considered to be one of the biggest sins, and “those who betray cannot be a Hindu”. He was referring to the collapse of the former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government in 2022.

“We are Hindus and followers of the Sanatan Dharma that believes in ‘punya’ (virtue) and ‘paap’ (sin), wherein ‘vishwasghat’ (betrayal) is said to be among the biggest sins. The same happened here (in Maharashtra),” the news agency IANS quoted Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, who was in Mumbai at the invitation of Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray, as saying.

“We told him (Mr Thackeray) how we are anguished over the betrayal done to him. Our pain will not end till he becomes the chief minister again,” he said.

He said that the people of Maharashtra are also distressed by that ‘betrayal’, and that was proved in the outcome of the recent (Lok Sabha) elections in the state. The Opposition INDIA bloc won 30 seats – a gain of 21 – in the state, while the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) could bag just 17, a loss of 20 over last time. 

“Betrayal cannot be tolerated. Breaking a government midway in its tenure and insulting the public mandate is not acceptable. We are not concerned with politics, but Hinduism does not accept such treachery,” the Shankaracharya said.

Ms Ranaut, however, backed Mr Shinde, saying “if a politician does not do politics in politics, will he sell golgappas (water balls).”

“In politics, it is very normal and constitutional to have alliances, treaties, and division of a party. Congress party was divided in 1907 and then again in 1971,” the actor-turned-politician wrote on X.

“Shankaracharya ji has misused his words and his influence and religious education. Religion also says that if the king himself starts exploiting his subjects then treason is the ultimate religion,” Ms Ranaut wrote in Hindi.

The newly-elected BJP MP also said Shankaracharya “has hurt the sentiments of all of us” by accusing Eknath Shinde of being “a traitor and a betrayer”.

“Shankaracharya Ji is insulting the dignity of the Hindu religion by saying such petty and petty things,” she said.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government, which comprised the Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress, and Nationalist Congress Party, fell in June 2022 after a rebellion by Eknath Shinde, who went on to become chief minister with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole has said “traitors” from the party who cross-voted in the recent elections to 11 legislative council seats have been identified and will be punished.

“The same “traitors” had ensured the defeat of the Congress leader Chandrakant Handore in the council elections two years ago,” Mr. Patole claimed on July 13.

“A trap was laid this time and they have been identified. They will be punished so that no one dares to betray the party again,” Mr. Patole told reporters in Mumbai, without taking any name.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, while talking to reporters on July 14, said the Congress has accepted that cross-voting took place and they will take action accordingly.

“The Central government is going to observe the imposition of Emergency as ‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas’. Isn’t it unconstitutional to get MLCs elected by MLAs who are facing disqualification? Isn’t it unconstitutional to purchase MLAs by bribing them? BJP is the real murderer of the Constitution,” Mr. Raut alleged.

Following a split in the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the Shiv Sena (UBT) headed by Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP) had moved court seeking disqualification of MLAs of the parties led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar.

The ruling ‘Mahyuti’ in the State, comprising the Shiv Sena led by CM Shinde, the BJP and Ajit Pawar-headed NCP, on July 12 won all the nine seats it contested in the biennial elections to 11 seats in the legislative council.

The Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) faced a setback as a candidate backed by Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP) lost. At least seven Congress MLAs defied the party’s directive while voting, results showed.

“The Congress, which has 37 MLAs, had fixed a quota of 30 first preference votes for its candidate Pradyna Satav, and seven remaining votes were to go to Milind Narvekar, candidate of the ally Shiv Sena (UBT),” party sources earlier said.

Eventually, Mr. Satav got 25 and Narvekar 22 first preference votes, which meant at least seven Congress MLAs cross-voted. Jayant Patil of the Peasants and Workers’ Party (PWP), supported by the NCP (SP), lost.

The 288-member legislative Assembly, with current strength of 274, was the electoral college for the council polls. Each winning candidate required 23 votes.

The BJP is the largest party in the Assembly with 103 members, followed by the Shiv Sena-38, NCP- 42, Congress-37, Shiv Sena (UBT)-15 and NCP (SP)-10.

Mumbai:

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday attributed the setback suffered by the NDA in recent Lok Sabha elections in the state to loyal voters going on holiday during voting, under the assumption that the alliance was set to win more than 400 constituencies.

He acknowledged that the National Democratic Alliance was caught off guard by the Opposition, which succeeded in voter consolidation.

Speaking at a joint rally of Mahayuti partners in Mumbai, BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis supported Mr Shinde’s claims, stating that the NDA leaders did not pay enough attention to the lies spread by the Opposition during the campaign.

The rally was attended by leaders of Shiv Sena, BJP, NCP headed by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, and other small constituents.

In Maharashtra, which sends 48 members to Lok Sabha, the BJP-led NDA could win only 17 seats, while the MVA comprising the Congress, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) and Shiv Sena (UBT) bagged 30 constituencies. The Independent candidate who won the Sangli constituency is a Congress leader.

“We were caught off guard by the opposition during the Lok Sabha election,” Mr Shinde said.

“Some of our voters went on holiday during the polling, assuming that the NDA would easily win more than 400 seats in the general elections. This loss underscores the need for a more strategic approach in the future,” he said.

Mr Shinde claimed the opposition voters diligently exercised their franchise, with almost 80 per cent turnout.

“If 60 per cent of our voters had turned up at the polling booths, we could have easily won 40 seats. We can’t afford to be naive or callous after being hit hard in the Lok Sabha polls,” he added.

In a critical remark against Congress, Mr Shinde highlighted its history of scams, such as Bofors, fodder, and coal, while questioning if there had been any corruption allegations against Prime Minister Modi.

Mr Fadnavis emphasised the significant impact of lies spread by the opposition during the campaign on the voters and the urgent need for an effective response.

“The MVA won two lakh votes more than the NDA candidates, but they won nearly 30 seats. They used to lie every day before the media, and we thought it would not affect our voters. But in reality, it did affect our voters, and we could not counter it effectively,” he added.

Mr Fadnavis also taunted some party leaders who made statements against NDA partners.

“There are some party leaders who get some extreme urge to make some statement. My suggestion to them is to first speak with their leaders, seek their permission, and then open their mouths,” he said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Maharashtra Finance Minister Ajit Pawar and Minister of State Deepak Kesarkar display 2024-25 Budget bags on the 2nd Day of the Monsoon Assembly Session, at Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai,
| Photo Credit: ANI

The budget presented by the Mahayuti government in Maharashtra last week ahead of the upcoming Assembly election reflects the outgoing dispensation’s attempts to balance or at least project a semblance of social engineering with populist schemes.

With an allocation of ₹6,12,293 crore for the current fiscal, the budget underscores the tripartite government’s intention to strengthen its support base among various sections.

A key aspect is the grant of 20,000 to each Dindi, a religious procession of Lord Vitthala to Pandharpur on every Ashadhi Ekadashi, demonstrating gratitude to the Warkari community, which holds significant influence in rural Maharashtra, making this a calculated move to secure their support.

Targeting ‘silent’ voters

The introduction of the Mukhya Mantri Majhi Ladki Bahin, based on neighbouring BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh’s popular Ladli Behna Yojana, aims to support women by providing a monthly allowance of ₹1,500 to eligible women aged 21 to 60. It also announced Mukhya Mantri Annapurna Yojana to provide three free LPG cylinders a year for a family of five. These are seen as a direct appeal to women voters, particularly in the rural and semi-urban areas, who are considered ‘silent’ yet crucial voters.

The budget also promises several populist measures, including a waiver of power bill dues for 44 lakh farmers, 15 per litre subsidy to dairy farmers, Gaon Tithe Godam (godown in every village) to provide storage facilities for agricultural produce, and subsidy to onion farmers.

These measures are tailored to address the grievances of the agrarian community, which has expressed dissatisfaction with the government’s pol-icies. The allocations indicate an attempt to win back support of the farming sector, a critical voting bloc in Maharashtra.

Earlier this year, Finance Minister Ajit Pawar presented an almost similar vote-on-account budget with several ‘bumper schemes’ ahead of the Lok Sabha poll. Despite those efforts, the ruling alliance won only 17 out of the 48 seats, while the Maha Vikas Aghadi, comprising Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP), won 30 seats. Ahead of the Assembly poll, the Mahayuti has gone all out to appeal to key segments of the population farmers, women, youth, devotees, and marginalised groups – through budgetary allocations aimed at building a broad social coalition.

Opposition leaders, however, criticised the budget as ‘political hypnotism’ and a ‘torrent of assurances’ designed only to sway voters before the poll.

In addition to these schemes, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, a day after the budget, announced Mukhya Mantri Teerth Darshan Yojana, a new pilgrimage scheme for senior citizens of all religions.

Ambiguity over funds

Though budget promises abound, concrete implementation strategies and fiscal prudence are lacking, as there is insufficient clarity on funding for the schemes. This ambiguity raises concerns about the feasibility and sustainability of the promises.

Whether this strategic social engineering will overshadow the issue of the split in Shiv Sena and NCP as well as the ongoing rift between Maratha and OBC communities, and translate into electoral dividends for the ruling alliance remains to be seen.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday took a swipe at Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray for his statement that the monsoon session beginning June 27 will be the farewell session of the MahaYuti government.

“Shouldn’t he (Uddhav Thackeray) be in the House to give a farewell? Or will he say goodbye from a Facebook Live? The people will decide whether to bid a farewell,” Shinde said, asserting that those sitting in the government are connected to the people and have done a slew of works for their betterment.

The obvious reference was Uddhav Thackeray’s regular use of Facebook Live during the Maha Vikas Aghadi government’s tenure, instead of coming to the Mantralaya.

Shinde, who chaired the state Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, also criticised the opposition for its move to boycott the customary tea meeting convened by him on the eve of the monsoon session.

“This is the last session of the present state Assembly. So we thought that the opposition would come and discuss a range of issues during the tea meeting. However, they gave a letter mentioning the same issues, which the government will reply to in the House. The opposition is confused,” claimed Shinde.

“The opposition may have got momentary happiness after the Lok Sabha elections, but despite all the attacks, Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister for the third time,” the Chief Minister said, as he reiterated that the opposition spread a fake narrative that changes will be made in the Constitution and reservation policies.

‘’Despite spreading such fake narratives, Congress got only 99 seats and the party will need another 25 years to win 240 seats,” he said.

“The Shiv Sena and the Uddhav Thackeray camp were pitted against each other in 13 seats, of which we won seven seats. Of the total 19 per cent votes, bow & arrow (Sena symbol) got 14.50 per cent. So what did the Thackeray cam get,” Shinde asked.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Mumbai:

 Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday issued instructions to the police to initiate strict action against illegal pubs in the state and bulldoze all structures violating building rules.

“I have given directions to initiate strict action against illegal pubs and bulldoze all structures that are against the building rules,” Eknath Shinde told reporters here.

“I also directed the police to initiate renewed action against drug peddlers to make Pune a drug-free city,” he added.

The Chief Minister’s remarks came amid the outrage in Pune city over a viral video of a bar in which minors can be seen allegedly consuming drugs in the bar’s washroom during a late-night party.

On Monday, the Pune Police raided and sealed the bar in the city for allegedly serving drugs to minors. Four police officials have been suspended for dereliction of duty in connection with the incident.

The police have suspended one Assistant Police Inspector, one Police Inspector, and two constables attached to Shivaji Nagar Police Station. The police have also arrested 8 people in the case.

The operation was carried out at the pub located in the posh area after a video surfaced on social media showing minor boys consuming drugs in the bar’s washroom during a late-night party.

Commissioner of Police Amitesh Kumar ordered an immediate probe into the matter, leading to a late-night raids.

Police teams conducted a thorough search of the premises and sealed the bar early the next day. The owner of the pub and five others were arrested in connection with the case and produced before a Pune Magistrate court and later sent to police custody till June 29 by the court.

The incident has sparked outrage among residents in Pune, with many demanding stricter enforcement of laws and regulations to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future.

The police have assured that they will continue to crack down on illegal pubs and bars engaging in illegal activities and uphold the safety and well-being of minors in the city.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mumbai:

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday spoke to Pune police commissioner Amitesh Kumar and directed him to initiate strict action against illegal pubs and bulldoze all structures flouting building rules.

A statement from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said Shinde also directed the police to initiate renewed action against peddlers to make Pune a drug-free city.

Pubs in the state’s second-largest city came into focus over the past 48 hours after a video, allegedly from Liquid Leisure Lounge or L3 on Fergusson College Road, showed some youths with a drugs- like substance.

“Strict action should be taken against illegal pubs to make Pune city drug-free. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has given instructions to Pune police commissioner Amitesh Kumar that bulldozers should be moved on illegal constructions related to drugs,” said the CMO statement.

The Chief Minister directed officials to initiate action against drug sellers and demolish illegal pubs and structures which flout building rules.

A police probe into the viral video has led to the arrest of eight persons, including an event organiser, while the excise department has arrested six waiters of L3 for allegedly flouting liquor stock norms.

An inspector, an assistant inspector and two beat marshals from the Shivajinagar police station, who were on night duty, have been suspended in connection with the case. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mumbai:

The Sena versus Sena battle heated up on the occasion of the Shiv Sena foundation day as Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde held parallel programmes in two parts of Mumbai. And from Sion’s Shanmukhanand Hall, Uddhav Thackeray, powered by the people’s support, issued an open challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Modi-ji I invite you to start campaign for assembly election in Maharashtra… it will be you versus me,” he said, pointing to the election due by year-end.

“My message to the BJP — try winning an election without using my original symbol. I am proud that we did not use anyone else’s picture. We will never use either, especially of PM Modi. I challenge PM Modi to start preparations today – keeping this fake Shiv Sena away,” he added.

Mr Thackeray also rubbished speculation about the two Sena factions joining hands and remaining in the NDA fold. He would never go with those who tried to “finish off” his party, Mr Thackeray said.

Though the rebel faction led by Eknath Shinde was awarded the name and election symbol of the undivided Shiv Sena by the Election Commission, the voters had decisively settled the legacy issue. And they did not agree with the poll body.

The Uddhav Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena won nine seats and the Shinde faction seven.

The other party in the same boat,  the Sharad Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party, won eight seats. The faction led by his nephew Ajit Pawar — which also got the name and party symbol from the Election Commission — only one.

Ally Congress won 13 seats.

The people’s disapproval of the political upheaval in the state extended to the BJP, which, Mr Shinde once let slip, had engineered the Sena split. The party’s score was cut down to nine seats, from 23 in 2019 .

But Chief Minister Eknath Shinde remained determined to push the point he based his rebellion on — that Mr Thackeray had strayed from the ideology set down by Sena founder and his father Balasaheb Thackeray.

“Where has your Hindutva gone? You have no right to seek votes in Balasaheb Thackeray’s name,” he said at a massive rally in Worli’s NSCI dome.  “Even a small kid will tell you that the Shiv Sena UBT won because of the Congress’ vote bank. Those who left Bal Thackeray’s thoughts for position, lost in the election. Bal Thackeray always talked against the Congress,” he added.

But Mr Thackeray had already covered the point.

“We got votes of all patriots, people of all religions. They said we left Hindutva, because we went with the Congress. I did not leave Hindutva. If everyone voted for us to save the country and the constitution, then people are with us. It shows the BJP is the one that left Hindutva,” Mr Thackeray said.