FORCED to do the firefighting to defend his son in a controversial land deal, Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar on Sunday wondered how a document can be registered without a “transaction of one rupee” and sought to link the allegations with elections to local bodies. He reiterated that the ongoing inquiry will reveal the truth about the land deal to the public. The sale of 40 acres of land in Pune’s upscale Mundhwa area for Rs 300 crore to a company in which Ajit Pawar’s son Parth Pawar is a majority ..

AN FIR has been filed against BJP MLA Munirathna and his accomplices after a 40-year-old woman accused himof gang raping her and urinating on her face and injecting her with a deadly virus, police said on Wednesday. The FIR was registered based on the complaint of a BJP worker at RMCYard police station on Tuesday, they said. In her complaint, the woman, claiming to be a BJP worker, alleged that the incident occurred at the MLA’s office in Mathikere on June 11, 2023...

THE new MahaYuti Government in Maharashtra will be sworn in at Azad Maidan here on the evening of December 5 in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s presence , the State BJP announced on Saturday. While there was no announcement yet on who would be the Chief Minister, BJP sources said Devendra Fadnavis, who has been Chief Minister twice and was Deputy CM in the last Eknath Shinde-led Government, was the front-runner for the top post. Shinde, who is holding the charge as caretaker Chief Minister and who ..

The Nationalist Congress Party on Sunday said NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule should apologise for her party fielding Yugendra Pawar against his uncle and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in the Baramati Assembly seat. NCP President Ajit Pawar won from his traditional Baramati constituency, defeating his nephew and NCP (SP) candidate Yugendra by more than one lakh votes. The high-stakes contest was seen as a battle between the 65-year-old politician and his uncle, Sharad Pawar (83). Talking to reporters, ..

A VETERAN NCP-SP leader Eknath Khadse, who quit BJP in 2020 blaming the leadership for his neglect, on Monday announced his retirement from electoral politics citing health issues. However, in an emotional appeal to the voters from Muktainagar Assembly seat in Maharashtra, Khadse, who was all set for his ‘ghar wapsi’ to BJP but dropped the idea due to lack of formal offer, urged the voters to elect his daughter and NCP-SP nominee Rohini Khadse, who is pitted against the Shiv Sena candidate Chandrakant ..

WITH campaigningin full swing ahead of Maharashtra Assemblyelections, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has exuded confidence in the victory of the Mahayuti alliance with over 175 seats in the 288- member State Legislature. Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP candidate from Baramati Assembly constituencysaid,“Mahayutiwillget more than 175 seats and in Baramati, I will win with a margin ofmore than onelakhvotes.” Maharashtrawill go topollson November 20 with votes being counted on November 23. ..

THE Opposition MVA on Sunday released its manifesto for the Maharashtra Assembly polls, promising free cervical cancer vaccines for girls aged 9 to 16 and two optional leave days for women employees during menstruation. The manifesto, titled ‘Maharashtranama’, also assured a castebased census, establishment of a separate department for the empowerment of selfhelp groups, formation of a dedicated ministry for child welfare, and six cooking gas cylinders every year at Rs 500 each to women. It also promised ..

MAHARASHTRA Deputy Chief Minister and NCP chief Ajit Pawar will emerge as a key player after the November 20 Assembly polls in the State, predicted former Minister Nawab Malik on Sunday. In an interview with PTI over the phone, the NCP candidate from Mumbai’s Mankhurd-Shivajinagar seat said the politics of ideology is over in Maharashtra and nobody knows who will side with which party. “There are even speculations that NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and Eknath Shinde, who heads the Shiv Sena, will join ..

ACTOR Mithun Chakraborty on Sunday asserted that the “masnad” (throne) of West Bengal will be of BJP after the 2026 Assembly elections in the state, promising to do whatever it takes to achieve the goal. Chakraborty, who has received India’s highest film honour Dadasaheb Phalke Award this year, was felicitated by Union Home Minister Amit Shah at the inauguration of a membership drive of the BJP in West Bengal. Speaking at the programme at the Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre (EZCC) here, Chakraborty ..

THE BJP has retained 71 sitting MLAs in the first list of 99 candidates for the forthcoming Maharashtra Assembly polls and also fielded kin of some regional satraps including Congress-turned-BJP politician Ashok Chavan’s daughter. Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, State BJP President Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar, ministers Girish Mahajan, Sudhir Mungantiwar, and Chandrakant Patil, are among the prominent faces feature in the first list released on Sunday. The list includes ..

POLITICAL parties and leaders wait with bated breath as the counting day approaches in Haryana, with the ruling BJP confident of retaining power for a third term, and the Congress, which is out of power for 10 years, more than hopeful of making a comeback when results are announced on Tuesday. Officials said all preparations, including security arrangements, have been completed for the counting process which begins at 8 am on October 8. Counting of votes for 90 Assembly constituencies will begin in ..

CONGRESS President Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday held a meeting with all general secretaries, State unit chiefs and AICC State in-charges here as the party gets battle-ready for the upcoming round of Assembly polls. Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi, general secretaries Jairam Ramesh and KC Venugopal, among others, were part of the meeting at the AICC headquarters here. Sources said the party chief took stock of the preparations for the upcoming polls in Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand later ..