21:10 November 17
Shiv Sena & Congress leaders will meet tomorrow, says Prithviraj Chavan
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan said," We are trying to find whether Shiv Sena, Congress & NCP can come together. There is a meeting tomorrow between the leaders of Shiv Sena & Congress. We will find out if we can go ahead or not."
19:58 November 17
President's Rule should end in Maharashtra, says NCP chief Nawab Malik
NCP chief spokesperson Nawab Malik said that party leaders arrived at the conclusion after the meeting that an alternate government should be formed in the state and a final decision in this will be taken after NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s meeting with Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi.
"We have decided that the next decision will be taken only after discussion with Congress. Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Pawar Sahab will hold a meeting tomorrow," Malik said after the meet.
18:34 November 17
NCP's core committee meeting underway
Core committee meeting of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) underway at party chief Sharad Pawar's residence.
17:25 November 17
Sena supporters raise slogans against Fadnavis at Bal Thackeray's memorial
Shiv Sena workers raised slogans against former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis who was leaving Shivaji Park here after paying tributes to Balasaheb Thackeray on his ninth death anniversary on Sunday.
Shiv Sena workers shouted slogans "Sarkar kunauchi? Shiv Sena chi" (Whose government? Shiv Sena's) at Fadnavis who left soon after paying his respects.
Apart from other party leaders, NCP chief Sharad Pawar also paid his tributes to the Bal Thackeray earlier in the day.
The slogans came in the backdrop of Maharashtra coming under the President's Rule after no party was able to muster the requisite numbers to form a government post the assembly polls this October.
17:06 November 17
Union Minister speaks to Amit Shah over BJP-Sena alliance
Union Minister Ramdas Athawale told Amit Bhai (BJP President Amit Shah) that if he mediates then a way can be found out to which he (Amit Shah) replied "don't worry, everything will be fine. BJP & Shiv Sena will come together to form a government."
16:35 November 17
NCP leaders arrive at Sharad Pawar's residence
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders arrive at party chief Sharad Pawar's residence for the core committee meeting.
15:46 November 17
Shiv Sena MPs Being Allotted Seats on Opposition Side in Parliament, Says Pralhad Joshi
Shiv Sena MPs are being allotted seats on the opposition side in both houses of parliament as its minister has resigned and the party is "working out" alliance with the Congress and NCP to form government in Maharashtra, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said on Sunday.
Arvind Sawant, the lone Sena minister in the Union council of ministers submitted his resignation last Monday. The party said on Saturday that it would not attend a meeting of NDA constituents on the eve of the winter session of Parliament.
"Shiv Sena's minister has resigned from the NDA government they are not attending today's NDA meeting and working out an alliance with the Congress and the NCP. So it is natural that they will be allotted seats on the opposition side in both houses," Joshi told reporters after the all-party meeting.
According to sources, all the three Shiv Sena MPs in the Rajya Sabha have been allocated seats on the opposition side, while in the Lok Sabha it is yet to be done.
The decades-old alliance between the Shiv Sena and BJP turned sour after the former pressed for the demand of sharing the chief ministerial post in Mahrashtra. It is now holding parleys with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress to form a non-BJP government in the state.
15:08 November 17
Maha govt: All eyes on Pawar-Uddhav-Sonia meet
The deliberation on Maharashtra government formation is on last leg with the Congress, the NCP and the Shiv Sena arriving on consensus on the Common Minimum Program (CMP) but all eyes are on the final meet of Sharad Pawar with Sonia Gandhi. Sources say that Pawar is likely to be accompanied by Uddhav Thackeray to meet Sonia.
The meeting is likely to happen on Tuesday or Wednesday as the CMP gets finalized among the three parties. Sharad Pawar is scheduled to meet Congress emissaries named by Sonia Gandhi on Monday in New Delhi. The three leaders - Ahmed Patel, Mallikarjun Kharge and K C Venugopal will sit with Pawar to fine tune the power sharing agreement and the CMP between the three parties before the final deal is put to Sonia Gandhi, said sources.
The power sharing agreement is in the final stage, said a source. A senior leader from the state said, "we are not in a hurry as these types of alliances take time to formulate as the ideology was a major hiccup which is being resolved".
Meanwhile, in a major political development, the Shiv Sena will be sitting with Opposition in both houses of the Parliament, beginning from Monday, with the opposition getting a major boost ahead of the winter session.
The Shiv Sena has 18 MPs in Lok Sabha, while it has three MPs in the Rajya Sabha. Sources said Shiv Sena MPs Sanjay Raut and Anil Desai will no longer occupy seats behind the treasury benches in Rajya Sabha in accordance with standard parliamentary procedures. Sources said the new seats have been allotted to them with Opposition MPs.
09:51 November 17
Shiv Sena and Congress leaders will meet tomorrow, says Prithviraj Chavan
Mumbai:The Shiv Sena on Sunday took a swipe at one-time ally BJP and said Chhatrapati Shivaji was not "confined to any caste or party" but belongs to all 11 crore people of Maharashtra. The BJP had mounted a campaign seen by political observers as an effort to appropriate the legacy of the legendary warrior-king in a bid to upstage the Sena.
Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut, writing in his weekly 'Rokhthok' column in party mouthpiece 'Saamana', said, "Shivaji Maharaj is not confined to a caste or a party. He belongs to all 11 crore people of Maharashtra."
Taking a dig at the BJP's campaign centring on the founder of the Maratha Empire, Raut wrote, "The BJP has been campaigning that it is the only party blessed by Shivaji Maharaj. Despite that, BJP candidate Udayanraje Bhosale, lost the Satara Lok Sabha bypoll."
Udayanraje Bhosale, a direct descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji, quit the NCP and joined the BJP, but was trounced by the Sharad Pawar-led party's Shriniwas Patil in the Lok Sabha bypoll held along with the October 21 Assembly elections.
"Shivaji Maharaj taught us that Maharashtra does not tolerate arrogance and hypocrisy. Whenever people take oath in the name of Shivaji Maharaj but do not keep promises, and start thinking of themselves as rulers of the state, then it is a sign of their downfall," Raut said.
Raut also pointed out that the BJP (the government led by it) did not even begin work on the Shivaji Memorial in the Arabian Sea though its government in neighbouring Gujarat had completed that of Sardar Patel, the tallest such structure in the world.
Narendra Modi, as chief minister of Gujarat, laid the foundation stone of the Sardar Patel memorial in Narmada district there and it was completed before the end of his first five year term as prime minister, Raut said.
Read: New Maha govt under leadership of Shiv Sena CM, says Raut