Maharashtra Government

Senior advocate Harish Salve, representing Shinde, submitted that disqualification under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution takes place, only if the Speaker reaches a conclusion that a member has voted against the stand of a party. Salve added that if the Speaker of an Assembly takes one or two months to decide on disqualification pleas against MLAs, then what does this mean? That they should stop attending the proceedings of the House? He further added, "There is no per se illegality principle, until and unless there is a finding of disqualification..."

Speaking to mediapersons after a 4-day tour of the flood-ravaged districts, Pawar slammed the Shiv Sena breakaway faction leader Shinde and Bharatiya Janata Party's Fadnavis for neglecting the plight of farmers affected by the recent spell of heavy rains and floods in Marathwada, Vidarbha and others parts of the state.

Thackeray, accompanied by Lok Sabha MP Arvind Sawant and other senior party leaders met Raut's aged mother, wife Varsha, daughter and other family members at their home in 'Maitri' bungalow in Bhandup. Raut's mother became emotional and held onto Thackeray, expressing silent concerns for her son who was arrested by the ED early this morning in an alleged money-laundering case arising out of the Patra Chawl, Goregaon, land scam.

Nihar Thackeray is the son of the late Bindumadhav Thackeray - who was the eldest son of the Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray. He is thus the nephew of ex-CM and Sena President Uddhav Thackeray and cousin of former state minister Aditya Thackeray. He is married to Ankita, the daughter of Bharatiya Janata Party leader Harshvardhan Patil, and is likely to launch his political career under the tutelage of Shinde.

Visiting the national capital for at least the 5th time in 28 days since he took office, Shinde is likely to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Bharatiya Janata Party President J. P. Nadda and other leaders in the capital. However, BJP's Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis is not accompanying him on this trip to New Delhi, fueling fresh speculation in political circles.

"A conspiracy to eliminate all the opposition and regional parties in the country is going on in full swing... The ruling party (BJP) is scared of the opposition. It indicates their inefficiency," said Thackeray, in the concluding part of a marathon "birthday interview" to Sanjay Raut, Executive Editor of the Sena mouthpieces "Saamana" and "Dopahar Ka Saamana" newspapers.

Sanjay Raut said that it is a sad development that the 56-year-old Shiv Sena launched by Balasaheb Thackeray - now led by his son and ex-Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray - on the Hindutva plank is now compelled to prove its credentials to the poll panel, and termed it shocking for the people of Maharashtra.

Speaking to mediapersons, he said that the 12 MPs met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and submitted a letter to the effect as a Shiv Sena Party Group in the Lower House. "While Rahul Shewale is the new Shiv Sena Group Leader, Bhavana Gawali is the Chief Whip of the party in Lok Sabha," said Shinde.

NCP Chief Spokesperson Mahesh Tapase, NCP Youth President Suraj Chavan, and MLC Amol Mitkari strongly slammed former minister Ramdas Kadam, who was sacked as a Deputy Leader by Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray on Monday. At a media briefing, Kadam, weeping uncontrollably before the mediapersons, alleged that he was "deeply grieved" to witness the Sena collapsing in this manner and squarely blamed NCP's Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar for its decimation.

Briefing the media after a cabinet meeting, Shinde said that Aurangabad will be renamed as 'Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar' and Osmanabad shall be rechristened as 'Dharashiv'. The upcoming new international airport shall be renamed after D. B. Patil, a prominent leader from Konkan, he added.