02:31 November 04
Pawar, Sonia may meet, take up Maharashtra today
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar is likely to arrive in New Delhi on Monday to meet Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi.
The leaders of the two allies are expected to discuss the unfolding political situation in Maharashtra. They may clarify their stand after the meeting whether to support the Shiv Sena, which is unhappy with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), its ally.
23:21 November 03
Fadnavis to meet Shah in Delhi today 'to discuss grant of aid for distressed farmers'
Maharashtra Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis will head to Delhi on Monday to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Sources, however, said the meeting with Shah will be to discuss aid from the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) to farmers affected by unseasonal rains across the state.
22:19 November 03
Sena leaders to meet Governor today; likely to request him to invite single largest party to form govt
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut along with other senior party leaders to meet Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari today. They are likely to request the Governor to invite single largest party to form government in Maharashtra.
16:41 November 03
Maha impasse: Sanjay Raut texted, says NCP's Ajit Pawar as Sena looks for alternatives
Mumbai:As the face-off between Shiv Sena and the BJP over the Maharashtra Chief Minister's post entered its 10th day on Sunday, Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar hinted that Sena might be reaching out to the Sharad Pawar-led party to form a government.
On the eve of NCP president Sharad Pawar's meeting with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi amid an impasse over government formation in Maharashtra, senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar showed reporters a text message from Sena MP Sanjay Raut containing greetings from the latter.
The Sena and the BJP are locked in a dispute over the chief minister's post, which has delayed government formation in the state, prompting speculation that the Uddhav Thackeray-led party may ally with the NCP and the Congress to form a government.
The message from Raut read "Namaskar mi Sanjay Raut. Jai Maharashtra".
Speaking on the message, former deputy chief minister Pawar said, "This means I should call him. I will call and check."
Notably, amidst the power tussle between the Sena and the BJP, the NCP has been maintaining that it would sit in the Opposition.
While Raut, earlier in the day, claimed the Sena would soon have its chief minister with the support of "170 MLAs", Pawar said he was "unaware" how the Sena leader had arrived at this number.
"The Congress-NCP and other allies have a strength of 110 seats (which includes Congress' 44 and NCP's 54). And we have the mandate to be in the opposition," Pawar said.
He also scoffed at speculation that NCP supremo Sharad Pawar was in the race for the post of Maharashtra CM.
The Baramati MLA was speaking to NCP candidates who lost the October 21 Assembly polls, giving them the example of former Congress CM late Vilasrao Deshmukh who went on to occupy the state's top post after a shock defeat from stronghold Latur in 1995.
Earlier, Raut had said Sharad Pawar was a probable prime ministerial candidate and his stature was too big for the post of state CM.
The formal talks over formation of government are yet to take off between the BJP and the Sena which together won 161 of the total 288 seats. The halfway mark is 145.
The bone of contention is the Sena's insistence for the post of the chief minister on a rotational basis and implementation of a "50:50 power sharing" formula, which entails equal allocation of ministerial portfolios.
Also Read: BJP will soon form government in Maharashtra: Bizay Sonkar Shastri