Page 14 - Maharashtra

BJP can't win Maha alone but will be largest party post-polls: Fadnavis

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said that BJP alone cannot win the upcoming assembly polls in the state but maintained that it will emerge as the single largest party after the elections. One has to be practical about the ground reality, he said at the NDTV Marathi Conclave, underscoring that Mahayuti allies BJP, Shiv Sena led by CM Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar's NCP can fight unitedly and win the elections. BJP alone cannot win the state but it is also true that we have the most seats and the highest voting percentage. After the elections, the BJP will emerge as the single largest party in the state The consolidation of votes of all the three parties can only make us victorious, he said. Asked about the disappointment among some BJP leaders who could not get tickets and the possibility of them turning rebellious, Fadnavis said, One (party) cannot say that you want other parties' votes but refuse to compromise on seat sharing. I feel sad for some of our

NCP releases third list of candidates for Maharashtra Assembly elections

Notably, Sana Malik, daughter of NCP leader Nawab Malik, will contest from the Anushakti Nagar constituency

Congress announces third list of 16 candidates for Maharashtra polls

Earlier this week, the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance revealed its seat-sharing arrangement for 255 constituencies, assigning 85 seats to each party. The remaining 23 seats in the state Assembly

NCP intensifies Maha Assembly poll campaign; hits ground with 150 LED vans

The NCP assembly poll campaign has picked up momentum in the last few weeks with dozens of prominent leaders of different parties joining the party

Why video conference not used for production of accused: SC to Maha secy

The Supreme Court has directed the Maharashtra home secretary to apprise why video conferencing facilities are not being used for the production of the accused in court to record evidence. A bench of Justices Rajesh Bindal and R Mahadevan asked the secretary to file an affidavit in this regard within two weeks. "Let the secretary home, state of Maharashtra file an affidavit as to why video conferencing facilities are not being used for production of accused in court for the purpose of recording of evidence or otherwise? "He/she shall also state in the affidavit as to whether such facilities are in place in the state of Maharashtra or not? It shall also be pointed out in the affidavit as to how much of amount was released for installation of video conferencing in the courts and the jails and what is the present ground situation," the bench said. During the hearing, when the court asked the counsel for the state why the accused was not produced, he could not offer any explanation. T

Maharashtra polls: Cong drops 2nd list of 23 candidates; see all big names

The Congress is contesting the polls in an alliance with Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Uddhavy Thackeray's Shiv Sena, and they plan to contest 85 seats each

Maharashtra Assembly polls: Congress releases 2nd list of 23 candidates

The Congress on Saturday released its second list of 23 candidates for the November 10 Assembly elections in Maharashtra. The list came after the party's Central Election Committee met and discussed the names of the candidates for the polls. The Congress declared 48 candidates in its first list. With this list, the Congress has now announced 71 candidates. The opposition party had retained 25 incumbent MLAs in its first list of nominees. The Congress has also asserted that there were no differences in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition and the final seat-sharing arrangement among its constituents will be out by Saturday evening. Speaking to reporters after the CEC meeting on Friday, party leader Ramesh Chennithala said the Congress CEC held a discussion on the remaining seats of Maharashtra. "The MVA is contesting unitedly and we have no differences," Chennithala, who is the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge for Maharashtra, said. "We will fight together to realis

PM Modi may address 12 public rallies in Maha ahead of polls: Bawankule

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to address 11 to 12 public meetings in Maharashtra ahead of the next month's assembly elections, BJP's state unit chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule said here on Friday. Elections to the 288-member state assembly will be held on November 20 and the counting of votes will take place three days later. Addressing a press conference in the Bharatiya Janata Party's media office here, where former MLA Raju Todsam (from Arni in Yavatmal) and few other local leaders joined the party, Bawankule said, "PM Modi ji's public meetings are proposed to be held at 11 to 12 places across Maharashtra, including Gondia, Akola, Nanded, Dhule, Mumbai and Navi Mumbai." He added that in the next few days, more people are expected to join the Mahayuti alliance. The ruling Mahayuti alliance comprises the BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-helmed Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). While it is trying to continue at the helm, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA)

Baba Siddique case: Police custody of nine accused extended till Oct 26

A court here on Friday extended till October 26 the police remand of nine accused in the Baba Siddique murder case. The NCP leader and former Maharashtra minister was shot dead on October 12 near his MLA son Zeeshan Siddique's office in Nirmal Nagar in Bandra East. Nine persons, who were arrested on various dates, were produced before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (Esplanade Court) V R Patil at the end of their initial remand on Friday. While police sought extension of remand by three days, the court extended it by one day till Saturday. The nine comprise Gurmail Baljit Singh (23), Dharmaraj Kashyap (21), Harish Kumar Nisad (26), Pravin Lonkar (30), Nitin Gautam Sapre (32), Sambhaji Kisan Pardhi (44), Pradeep Dattu Thombre (37), Chetan Dilip Pardhi and Ram Fulchand Kanoujia (43). As per police, Haryana resident Singh and Uttar Pradesh native Kashyap as well as wanted accused Shivkumar Gautam shot at Siddique, while Pune-based Pravin Lonkar's brother Shubham is allegedly

Zeeshan Siddique joins Ajit Pawar-led NCP, to contest from Bandra East

Maharashtra polls: In August, Baba Siddique's son Zeeshan was expelled from the Congress party, following allegations of voting against party lines in the Maharashtra legislative council elections

Five labourers killed, 5 injured as water tank collapses in Pune, 1 booked

Five labourers were killed and five others suffered injuries after a makeshift water tank collapsed at a labour camp in Maharashtra's Pune district on Thursday morning, police said. The incident took place in Bhosari area of Pimpri Chinchwad township when some labourers were taking bath under the water tank at around 6:15am, they said. "It seems a wall of the tank exploded due to the water pressure, leading to its collapse. The labourers who were below the water tank got trapped under the debris," Pimpri Chinchwad Additional Commissioner of Police Vasant Pardeshi said. "Three of them died on the spot while two others succumbed to injuries in a hospital. Five others sustained injuries and are undergoing treatment," another official said. "We have registered an offence under relevant sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita against one Kumar Lomte. The construction of the water tank was of sub-standard quality. The accused did shoddy work while building it," a Bhosari police station ...

Porsche crash: Maha govt gives nod to prosecute 3 Sassoon Hospital staffers

Pune police has received sanction from the Maharashtra government to prosecute Sassoon Hospital staffers Dr Ajay Taware, Dr Shreehari Halnor and Atul Ghatkamble in the May 19 Porsche car crash case, a local court was informed on Thursday. Two IT professionals were killed after their motorcycle was hit by a Porsche car, allegedly driven by a drunk minor boy, in the early hours of May 19 in Kalyani Nagar area here. Taware, Halnor and Ghatkamble are accused of involvement in swapping the 17-year-old accused's blood samples to nullify alcohol tests. "We today submitted to the court that police has received the state government's sanction to prosecute Taware, Halnor and Ghatkamble in the case. Such sanction to prosecute or frame charges against government employees is mandatory," special public prosecutor advocate Shishir Hiray said. Taware, Halnor, Ghatkamble along with the juvenile's parents and two middlemen are in jail in the case.

Maharashtra Assembly polls: Congress releases 1st list of 48 candidates

The Congress on Thursday announced its first list of 48 candidates for the Maharashtra Assembly polls, fielding its state unit chief Nana Patole from Sakoli, former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan from Karad South and Leader of Opposition in the outgoing Assembly Vijay Wadettiwar from Brahmapuri. The opposition party also fielded former ministers Nitin Raut and Balasaheb Thorat from Nagpur North and Sangamner respectively, Jyoti Eknath Gaikwad from Dharavi, Amit Deshmukh from Latur City and Dheeraj Deshmukh from Latur Rural. Mohammad Aarif Naseem Khan has been fielded from Chandivali, Aslam Sheikh from Malad West, Ranjit Kamble from Deoli and Vikas Thakre from Nagpur West. The list comes a day after the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) of the Congress, NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT) announced that they will contest 85 seats each in the November 20 polls. However, deliberations to seal a final pact are still underway. The three allies are discussing the sharing of the remaining 33 seats of th

Class 10 Maths, Science pass marks in Maharashtra could fall to 20 from 35

Maharashtra SCERT has proposed lowering passing marks for Class 10 Maths and Science from 35 to 20. However, there's a caveat...

Mahayuti obstructed FRA implementation, denying Adivasis of benefits: Cong

The Congress on Thursday alleged that the Mahayuti government in Maharashtra obstructed the implementation of the Forest Rights Act, depriving millions of tribals of its benefits, and asserted that the law's implementation was the key priority of the Adivasi Sankalp announced by Rahul Gandhi earlier this year. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the Manmohan Singh-led government in 2006 passed the revolutionary Forest Rights Act (FRA), which granted Adivasi and forest-dwelling individuals and communities legal rights to manage their own forests, and economically benefit from the forest produce they collect. The FRA provides for both individual and community rights, he said, pointing out that Menda Lekha in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district in April 2011 became the first community to secure forest rights privileges, with the gram sabha getting control over the use of bamboo, he said in a post on X. "The BJP and the Mahayuti have, however, obstructed

Maharashtra polls: Seat exchange likely among MVA allies, says Sanjay Raut

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday indicated the Maha Vikas Aghadi allies could swap some seats among themselves, a day after the opposition bloc in Maharashtra announced a formula of 85 seats to each of the three major parties. Raut also said there could be "some corrections" in the list of candidates announced by his party on Wednesday. After days of stalemate, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), comprising Congress, NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT), on Wednesday announced contesting 85 seats each for polls to the 288-member state assembly even as deliberations to seal a final pact were still underway. The three allies were discussing the sharing of the remaining 33 seats among themselves and smaller parties. The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) on Wednesday released its first list of 65 candidates for the state assembly polls. "There can be an exchange of seats," Raut on Thursday said, stressing merit and winnability will be the key factors in selecting a candidate. "Ther

Sena (UBT) contestants spread awareness about new symbol in poll campaign

With the Shiv Sena (UBT) contesting the November 20 Maharashtra assembly polls on a new symbol after split, its three MLAs in Marathwada are making every effort to popularise it and also raising farmers issues as part of their campaign. In the 2019 Maharashtra assembly elections, the then undivided Shiv Sena bagged 12 seats in the Marathwada region. After the party split in June 2022, three MLAs - Udaysingh Rajput (Kannad), Kailas Patil (Dharashiv-Kalamb) and Dr Rahul Patil (Parbhani) - remained with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and have been fielded for the upcoming assembly polls. The Shiv Sena suffered a split in June 2022 when a section of MLAs, led by Eknath Shinde, revolted against Thackeray, the then-chief minister. The Thackeray-led Sena (UBT) was later allotted the 'mashaal' (flaming torch) symbol, while the Shiv Sena led by CM Shinde retained the original 'bow and arrow' symbol. Talking to PTI, Rajput said Thackeray's image is good in the minds of the people

Salman Khan threat message: Cops arrest vegetable seller from Jamshedpur

Mumbai Police investigating the Salman Khan threat message case have arrested a man from Jamshedpur, officials said on Wednesday. The accused was identified as Shaikh Hussain Shaikh Mausin (24), a Jamshedpur-based vegetable seller. A threat message demanding Rs 5 crore from the actor was received on the Mumbai Traffic Police's WhatsApp helpline last week, prompting the police to register a case and launch an investigation. Police tracked down the number to Jharkhand and teams were dispatched to nab the accused, an official said, adding that another team visited Guwahati. Even as the police widened the dragnet to trace the sender of the message, the Mumbai traffic police received an "apology" from the same mobile phone number, officials had said on Tuesday. Notably, Khan had earlier received death threats from the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. Suspected members of the gang had opened fire outside the actor's Bandra home in April this year. A few months back, the Navi Mumbai police uncove

Maharashtra Assembly elections: MVA allies agree to contest 85 seats each

Maha Vikas Aghadi of Congress, NCP (SP), and Shiv Sena (UBT) on Wednesday announced to contest 85 seats each in Maharashtra assembly elections even as deliberations to seal a final seat-sharing pact are still underway. Addressing a press conference, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said consensus has been reached on 270 out of total 288 seats for the November 20 elections. "We will include Samajwadi Party, PWP, CPI(M), CPI, and AAP. Discussions are still on for the remaining seats. We have amicably arrived at a consensus on 270 seats. MVA stands united to defeat the Mahayuti government," Raut said. Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole said the rest of the seats will be left for smaller parties.

Maharashtra polls: NCP's first list out, Ajit Pawar to fight from Baramati

The Nationalist Congress Party has renominated 26 sitting MLAs, including leaders who had sided with Ajit Pawar during his rebellion against his uncle Sharad Pawar, which resulted in a split in the pa