Maharashtra news live updates: On Sunday, Jitendra Awhad was made the Leader of Opposition in Assembly replacing Ajit Pawar, who formulated a split in the NCP by joining the Maharashtra government.Maharashtra News Highlights: The first cabinet meeting of the three-parties coalition between Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, BJP and NCP led by Ajit Pawar was held at Mantralaya, where portfolio distribution was discussed. Meanwhile, the Congress is holding a meeting of its legislators, where the issue of staking a claim to the post of the Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly is likely to come up for discussion.
Two days post the vertical split in the NCP, the drama has intensified. NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Monday announced the expulsion of MPs Sunil Tatkare and Praful Patel for “anti-party activities”. This came after Patel ‘removed’ Jayant Patil as Maharashtra NCP president and ‘appointed’ Tatkare as the new state president. Jayant Patil had sent a letter to Ajit Pawar and the other eight party MLAs informing them of disqualification proceedings against them.
On Sunday, Jitendra Awhad was made the Leader of Opposition in Assembly replacing Ajit Pawar, who formulated a split in the NCP by joining the Maharashtra government.
NCP leader Ajit Pawar was sworn in as the Deputy CM of Maharashtra. (Express photo by Ganesh Shirsekar)
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a ‘yellow’ alert for Mumbai and its neighbouring districts of Thane and Palghar, stating the possibility of heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated pockets.
While the weather department had earlier issued a ‘green’ alert, implying moderate showers, the warning was upgraded after the city and its suburbs experienced increased rainfall since Tuesday morning. Furthermore, for Wednesday, IMD has sounded an ‘orange’ warning, indicating heavy to very rainfall in few places, for Mumbai and Thane. Read more
NCP president Sharad Pawar said those who "betrayed" his ideology should not use his photograph. "Only the party of which I am the national president and Jayant Patil the state president can use my photograph," he told reporters.
In his lifetime, it was his prerogative to decide who should use his photograph, he said. "Those who betrayed my ideology and with whom I have ideological differences cannot use my photograph," the veteran leader added.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar is seeking legal opinion to tackle the crisis in the party caused by his nephew Ajit Pawar joining the Shiv Sena-BJP government and claiming the support of the bulk of MLAs, party sources said.
Sharad Pawar, who returned from Satara on Monday night, is holding discussions with legal experts on how to handle the ongoing developments, said NCP national spokesperson Clyde Crasto. "Taking a legal opinion is necessary as this issue concerns Schedule 10 of the constitution," he said.
After coming under fire for its shoddy construction of the Santacruz-Chembur Link Road (SCLR) extension, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has started fixing potholes on the recently opened bridge.
The MMRDA said that the contractor is entrusted with the responsibility for the work on the newly opened flyover of SCLR Extension Phase 1, and hence the cost of repair will be borne by J Kumar Infra. Read more
Starting this year, the Sanskrit department of the Mumbai University will offer a one-year online diploma course on Bhagavad Gita. University officials said the idea behind launching the course is to go beyond the spiritual context attached to Bhagavad Gita. Read the full story here
A day after attending the swearing-in ceremony of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar at Raj Bhavan, party’s MLA from Wai in Satara district, Makarand Patil, on Monday morning took a U-turn and joined party president Sharad Pawar.
Pawar, who had left Pune for Karad at 8 am in the morning, was joined by Patil at Shirwal town and welcomed him. Read more
Intermittent rainfall in June cause a spike in monsoon-related ailment cases, especially dengue, swine flu and hepatitis, as compared with May in Mumbai, as per civic data.
Data provided by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) shows that Mumbai recorded 353 dengue cases in June as compared with 119 cases in May. Similarly, hepatitis cases surged from 141 from 119 in the same period. Read more
In a recent development, the Samruddhi Mahamarg entry points are being equipped with public address system, said Sanjay Yadav, Joint Managing Director of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC).
“The new system will appeal to drivers using the highway not to over-speed, drive cautiously, not to drive in the wrong lane etc. Since the highway is straight and does not have curves, it can make one sleep. So precautions have to be taken,” added the official. Read more
Shiv Sena: CM Eknath Shinde had met his party leaders on Monday, to quell fears and speculation following Ajit Pawar's rebellion.
NCP (Ajit Pawar): Ajit Pawar inaugurated a new party office opposite Mantralaya in south Mumbai.
NCP (Sharad Pawar): Sharad Pawar conducted a volley of meetings on Tuesday, meeting his party leaders and Congress leaders.
Shiv Sena (UBT): Party leaders met at Matoshree today. During the meeting of Uddhav Thackeray faction leaders at Matoshree in Mumbai today, opinions were sought from all leaders on whether Thackeray and other leaders want to continue to be a part of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). All the leaders and public representatives expressed their opinion to stay in MVA, by a show of hands, sources told ANI.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole said, “We are planning to tour across the state along with Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray. Our aim is to uproot the dictatorial BJP from the state."
Due to water logging at Sion road no 24, the BEST announced that buses on route 7 L, C10, 22L, 25L, 302, 312, 411 are diverted via Sion Circle road no 3 from from 5.45 pm onwards.
Traffic movement is slow on SV road's south bound, between Lucky junction and Badi Masjid, owing to potholes, the traffic police tweeted.
Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said there is no leader like Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“The country is marching ahead under his (Modi's) leadership. We have joined the government to support him,” Pawar said, after inaugurating his NCP faction's new office opposite Mantralaya.
“There is no leader like Modi. There is no alternative to him,” he said. Pawar added that opposition in the country is scattered while PM Modi is working towards taking the country on the path of development.
Nine people died and 26 others were left injured after a trailer truck hit a container vehicle, a four-wheeler, and a couple of two-wheelers, among others, in Maharashtra’s Dhule district Tuesday. The accident occurred on the Mumbai-Agra highway near Palasner village along the Madhya Pradesh border. Read more
Ajit Pawar, while speaking to reporters on Tuesday, claimed that a majority of NCP MLAs are with him. In the we discussed portfolio distribution.
He added that at the Cabinet meeting held at Mantralaya, portfolio distribution was discussed.
Maharashtra NCP president Jayant Patil said the group led by Ajit Pawar has no right to remove him from the post. He also claimed that all MLAs of NCP (total 53) are with the party chief Sharad Pawar.
A day earlier, the Ajit Pawar camp appointed Sunil Tatkare as the Maharashtra NCP president in place of Jayant Patil. It also asked the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker to disqualify Jayant Patil and Jitendra Awhad from membership of the House.
The first cabinet meeting between Ajit Pawar's 'NCP', Shinde-led Sena and BJP is underway at Mantralaya.
In Bhopal on June 27, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing BJP workers, accused the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) of being involved in a “scam worth Rs 70,000 crore”.
On July 2, the BJP embraced NCP leader Ajit Pawar, a prime accused in the alleged irrigation scam, and made him deputy chief minister, the post Pawar Jr will share with the BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis in a government led by Eknath Shinde, a Shiv Sena defector.
This is perfectly in accordance with the BJP’s style. First weaken Opposition leaders by leveling charges of misappropriation of funds and later bring the same leaders into its fold. Read more
Nationalist Congress Party leader Praful Patel has claimed 51 out of the 53 party MLAs had told NCP chief Sharad Pawar that a possibility of joining hands with the BJP should be explored after the MVA government in Maharashtra collapsed last year.
If the NCP can form government with the Shiv Sena, why not with the BJP, Patel, who has switched over to Ajit Pawar's side, said in an interview to Marathi news channel Zee 24 Taas.
"There were discussions on this issue, but no decision was arrived at. Now a shape has been given. The decision has been taken as a party, not by me or Ajit Pawar individually," the Rajya Sabha member said. (PTI)
Union Minister Anurag Thakur says 'Several political parties want to join NDA for the development of the country and NCP has initiated this. I have faith that the NCP joining the Maharashtra cabinet will help in the development of the state. Keeping the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in mind, these political parties joining NDA will provide a strong and stable government in the Centre for the development of the country.'
President Draupadi Murmu is on a two-days tour of Maharashtra. She will visit Vidarbha today.
Maharashtra Congress has convened a meeting of its legislators on Tuesday where the issue of staking claim to the post of Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly may come up for discussion, a party leader said. All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary HK Patil will attend the meeting.
The post of Leader of Opposition (LoP) fell vacant after Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar resigned on Friday. He joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government on Sunday as deputy chief minister while eight other NCP MLAs took oath as ministers. Notably, the NCP, led by Sharad Pawar, has appointed MLA Jitendra Awhad as the LoP.
Late on Monday, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar said he was yet to ascertain whether the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) was a part of the Shiv Sena-BJP government or is still in the Opposition. Speaking to reporters, Narwekar said his office had not yet received any petition mentioning about a split in the party, reported PTI.
“I am yet to ascertain whether the NCP is a part of the state government or is still in the Opposition bloc. I will go through the details available before me and take a call on it," he said., adding that he had received Jayant Patil's plea seeking to disqualify nine defecting MLAs.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar, in a letter, dismissed SR Kohli, permanent secretary and Delhi office in-charge, for indulging in "anti-party activities".
The letter stated that Kohli had "spearheaded and facilitated" the defection of Ajit Pawar and 8 other MLAs.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Maharashtra president Jayant Patil was quick to petition Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar seeking disqualification of nine party leaders, including Ajit Pawar, who on Sunday took oath to become ministers in the BJP-Shiv Sena (Shinde) government.
However, few expect the reply from Narwekar to be as quick. Read more
The Opposition’s euphoria over the glitch-free beginning to its unity efforts in Patna lasted all of 10 days. Then came Sunday’s blow, with the BJP taking away the cream of the NCP, a crucial party in the unity effort.
In one blow, the BJP completed its “revenge” for 2019, when NCP chief Sharad Pawar had weaned away the Shiv Sena and together with the Congress put together a Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition government, derailing BJP hopes. Read more
NCP workers owing allegiance to Ajit Pawar held a protest against Maharashtra unit chief Jayant Patil and MLA Jitendra Awhad in Thane.
Ajit Pawar led a vertical split in the NCP on Sunday and joined the Eknath Shinde government along with eight MLAs, including Chhagan Bhujbal and Dilip Walse Patil. The protesters gathered in front of the state circuit house here and hit posters of Patil and Awhad, who the party seeks to make as leader of opposition in the Assembly, with slippers.
The protesters said they were retaliating to a section of party workers blackening the face of Pawar on a poster. (PTI)
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde spent time to ease the unrest among his Shiv Sena colleagues facing disqualification in connection with the rebellion against Uddhav Thackeray and the split in the party as well as the changed equations with the entry of nine NCP MLAs in the government.
On the other hand, Maharashtra Congress has convened a meeting of its legislators on Tuesday where the issue of staking a claim to the post of the Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly may come up for discussion.
NCP leader Ajit Pawar joining the Maharashtra government has created a perception that BJP has started doubting whether Chief Minister Eknath Shinde of Shiv Sena can deliver results in Lok Sabha polls and he may be sidelined, according to political observers.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has dismissed such talks, saying the speculation of Shinde losing the chief minister's post is nothing but kite-flying. senior BJP leader Madhav Bhandari said all these talks are nothing but kite flying. "First of all the disqualification petition pending with the speaker will not go against us. Even if it does, the fallout won't impact the government as we have enough numbers," he said.
A unique scenario is emerging for the first time after the last 51 years as the number of MLAs from various parties backing the Maharashtra government has prima facie reached 200, post the induction of NCP leader Ajit Pawar in the state cabinet.
The last time when more than 200 MLAs were part of the state government was in 1972, but at that time all the 222 legislators belonged to Congress. Also, the strength of the House was 270 at that time, a former state legislature official said citing data.
The exact number of MLAs supporting Ajit Pawar, who took oath as deputy chief minister on Sunday, is not known yet. However, Ajit Pawar's loyalist and MLC Amol Mitkari claimed the support of 36 (out of 53) MLAs.
If Mitkari's claim on the support of 36 legislators is to be taken at face value, the total number of MLAs, including those of Shiv Sena and BJP, supporting the state government goes up to 181.
In the 288-member House, the BJP has 105 MLAs and Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde 40. The Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government is also supported by three MLAs of Bahujan Vikas Aghadi, two of Prahar JanShakti Party, 13 Independents, and one legislator each belonging to Rashtriya Samaj Party, and Jan Surajya Shakri. Cumulatively, the number of MLAs supporting the government stands at 201.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Chief Sharad Pawar, while addressing a press conference, rejected speculations that nephew Ajit Pawar's rebellion had his blessings. Pawar said that he has launched a statewide tour to strengthen the NCP and boost the confidence of party workers. He also said that the Congress was justified in claiming the post of Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly.
On Sunday, Ajit Pawar led a vertical split in the NCP to become the deputy chief minister. Eight other NCP leaders were also sworn in as ministers in the Eknath Shinde-BJP government. Read More
RJD president Lalu Prasad alleged that the NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar joined the BJP-led government in Maharashtra at a time when opposition leaders came together to fight the assault on democracy.
Speaking at the launch of a book on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, an arch-rival with whom he has now joined hand, he said, "This function is taking place at a time when Nitish, I and various leaders have come together to combat assaults on democracy by the dispensation headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi."
"Modi has been committing dacoities across the nation, as you have seen in Maharashtra from where the country's most senior leader had come to attend our opposition meet," said the RJD supremo, who did not refer to NCP chief Sharad Pawar by name.
NCP working president Praful Patel has said the decision to join the Shiv Sena-BJP government was a collective one which was taken by the party to provide political stability and ensure the development of Maharashtra and the country.
"The country has progressed under the leadership of Narendra Modi in the last nine years. I had been to Patna for the meeting of opposition parties. I saw what happened there. In the main opposition party Congress there is confusion about whether Rahul Gandhi is the leader or not. We don't know who runs that party," Patel told reporters.
When asked to spell out the exact number of MLAs backing Ajit Pawar, Patel claimed the entire party (53 MLAs) is together.
DMK President and Chief Minister M K Stalin expressed his party's support to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, whose party has suffered a split.
Stalin spoke to the Maharashtra leader over the phone and conveyed the DMK's support to the NCP in taking on the BJP, sources told PTI.
A portion of a road subsided amid heavy rains in Maharashtra's Palghar district between Jawhar and Dhaberi, but no one was injured.
In other rain-related incidents, a terrace wall of a building declared dangerous by the authorities collapsed due to heavy rains in Ambernath town of neighbouring Thane district on Sunday.
The Ambernath municipal council has already published a list of 210 dangerous and 13 most dangerous buildings in the town and the structure where the collapse was reported was one of them.
Meanwhile, two persons were injured when the plaster from the ceiling of a toilet collapsed on them in Bhayander town of the district on Sunday.
Maharashtra politics since the toppling of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government last year has been akin to a blood sport, reflecting the extremely polarised nature of the state’s polity. But through all the bitter exchanges between political rivals, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his new partner Ajit Pawar maintained their bond, and this perhaps was a precursor to Sunday’s seismic shift.
After the Assembly elections in 2019, to realise his ambitions, Ajit Pawar had left the fledgling MVA to take oath as Deputy CM alongside Fadnavis, who became the CM, in an early-morning exercise shrouded in secrecy. Read more
The Sharad Pawar-led NCP Sunday night filed a disqualification petition against nine party MLAs, including Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who joined the BJP-Sena government, putting the ball in Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar’s court.
During the Shiv Sena vs Shiv Sena case, the Supreme Court had said that while deciding disqualification pleas, the Speaker must consider the constitution of the party and the structure of leadership outside the Legislative Assembly. What is the legal road ahead in this case?
On Sunday, Maharashtra got a new Leader of Opposition in Jitendra Awhad, who replaced Ajit Pawar. The 59 year old Awhad, who is a three time MLA from Mumbra, is a close associate of NCP chief Sharad Pawar and had taken the plunge into politics through student activism protesting against rising tuition fees in colleges in 1982.
Starting his political career with the Congress, Awhad held positions such as chief secretary and general secretary NSUI, Maharashtra and also served as general secretary of all India NSUI in 1991. Read full story here
The much-awaited Mumbai-Goa Vande Bharat Express train made its maiden journey last week after the virtual inauguration of five such semi-high-speed trains by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bhopal.
The Mumbai-Goa Vande Bharat train halts at Dadar, Thane, Panvel, Khed, Ratnagiri, Kankavali and Thivim. The fares between the two endpoints are Rs 1,815 for the chair car and Rs 3,360 for the executive chair car class (excluding GST). More details here
“Tensions” between CM Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis have been the subject of constant analysis. At the swearing-in ceremony of NCP leaders that took place on Sunday, however, it was the casual manner in which Shinde greeted Ajit Pawar after he was sworn in as Deputy CM that led to murmurs that Shinde and his camp may not be too happy with a third component being added to the ruling combine in Maharashtra.
Read more here
At a time when the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s financial expenditure is under the scanner, municipal commissioner and state-appointed administrator Iqbal Singh Chahal on Sunday said there has been no irregularity in the civic body’s finances and that its financial health is currently at its peak. Read more
The newly opened Phase-1 stretch of the Santacruz-Chembur Link Road (SCLR) extension in Mumbai, built at a cost of Rs 645 crore, is already riddled with potholes exposing the shoddy work carried out by engineers and contractors. The SCLR is an elevated corridor meant to cut travel time between Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) and Western Express Highway (WEH). Read more
After the swearing-in of Ajit Pawar and 8 NCP MLAs into the Maharashtra Cabinet leading to a split in the party, Aditi Tatkare became the first woman minister in the CM Eknath Shinde Cabinet.
Here are some noteworthy facts
In a short span of one year, the BJP carried out ‘Operation Lotus’ twice in Maharashtra, splitting two mainstream regional parties, the Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray and the NCP led by Sharad Pawar.
While some have raised questions on ethics, many argue, “Everything is fair in love, war — and politics.”
The BJP, which is the single-largest party in Maharashtra with 105 seats out of 288, has often adopted newer strategies to consolidate its organisational base to drive electoral success. Read more
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar, who on Sunday took oath as the Deputy chief minister of Maharashtra after joining the Eknath Shinde-led government, is the son of Sharad Pawar’s elder brother Anantrao. He made his first foray into politics by being elected to the board of a sugar cooperative in 1982.
In 1991, Ajit became the chairman of Pune District Cooperative Bank, a post he served for the next 16 years. Elected as an MP to the Lok Sabha from Baramati in 1991, Ajit later vacated the seat for Sharad Pawar who was the defence minister in the P.V. Narasimha Rao government. Read the full story here
Of the nine Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders who were sworn in as Cabinet ministers in Maharashtra’s Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government on Sunday, at least four leaders or their family members — Ajit Pawar, Chhagan Bhujbal, Aditi Tatkare and Hasan Mushrif — are facing a probe by the Enforcement Directorate or Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) in cases linked to money laundering.
Here are the details of the cases against them
The Mumbai Board of Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) has announced an extension of the participation period for the affordable housing lottery draw. The deadline, originally set for June 26, has been pushed back to July 10. The application submission process for the lottery draw began on May 22, but the board has not yet disclosed the specific date of the draw.
Read details here
NCP chief Sharad Pawar announced the expulsion of MPs Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare from the party, a day after the two leaders were a part of a vertical split brought into effect by the swearing in of Ajit Pawar and 8 MLAs as Maharashtra ministers.
Sharad Pawar also said that Patel has been removed from the post of the NCP's working president.
Meanwhile, Praful Patel announced the removal of Jayant Patil as Maharashtra NCP president and appointed Sunil Tatkare as new state president.