News Analysis India

Tag: Maharashtra BJP

  • Congress’ Rajani Patil set to enter Rajya Sabha unopposed as Maharashtra BJP withdraws candidate

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Senior Congress leader Rajani Patil is set to be declared elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra after the opposition BJP on Monday withdrew its candidate from the next month’s bypoll.

    The by-election was necessitated due to the death of sitting Congress MP Rajeev Satav in May.

    His term in the Upper House of Parliament was till April 2, 2026.

    Monday (September 27) was the last day of withdrawal of nomination papers for the October 4 by-election.

    The BJP had fielded Sanjay Upadhyay for the bypoll and he has now withdrawn from the race, paving the way for Patil (62) to get elected unopposed.

    Patil and Upadhyay were the only candidates in the fray.

    Talking to reporters here, Upadhyay said Congress leaders in the state had appealed to the BJP to withdraw its candidate so that the Congress nominee gets elected unopposed.

    “I have withdrawn my nomination on the party’s directives,” he said.

    “The decision to withdraw my candidature was taken in a meeting of the state BJP core committee,” Upadhyay said.

    Last week, Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole and his party colleague and minister Balasaheb Thorat had met Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Devendra Fadnavis of the BJP and urged him to facilitate unopposed election of Patil.

    The 288-member Assembly formed the electoral college for the by-election in which the BJP is the single largest party with 106 MLAs.

    Patil was the candidate of the ruling coalition MVA, led by the Shiv Sena in which the Congress is a key constituent.

  • BJP ‘entertaining’ people, why open cinema, drama halls: Sanjay Raut

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday took a swipe at the BJP, claiming it was providing “entertainment” to people, and questioned the need for opening cinema halls and drama auditoriums during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Notably, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has said cinema halls and drama theatres in the state will be permitted to operate from October 22 on the condition that they follow all the protocols required to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

    In his weekly column ‘Rokhthok’ in the Sena mouthpiece Saamana, Raut, who is the executive editor of the Marathi daily, said the opposition party (BJP) in Maharashtra has “crossed all limits”.

    “Every day, BJP leader Kirit Somaiya levels new allegations against different state ministers and visits their constituencies. I feel the state government shouldn’t stop his tours. His allegations are like soap bubbles. Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil has a different style,” he quipped.

    “Even though the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions continue, political entertainment programmes are on in the country.

    In all, there is fun everywhere… there is mystery and comedy in the entertainment that is being provided by the opposition party. Is there a need to open cinema halls and drama auditoriums?” he wondered.

    Raut, whose party shares power with the NCP and Congress in Maharashtra, claimed that the state BJP unit has made a “mockery” of central probe agencies.

    He said Maharashtra had a rich tradition of illustrious opposition leaders like Madhu Dandavate, Madhu Limaye, George Fernandes and Hiren Mukherjee, who launched fierce agitations against the then governments and exposed corruption.

    Indira Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi also bore the brunt, he said.

    In Maharashtra, leaders like Datta Patil, Mrunal Gore, Keshavrao Dhondge, Krushnarao Dhulap and Gopinath Munde kept various state governments on tenterhooks, but there was no viciousness as in the present times, the Shiv Sena’s chief spokesperson said.

    Chief ministers like Shivajirao Nilangekar, A R Antulay and Vilasrao Deshmukh had to quit because of the opposition attack, he noted.

    “Today, the opposition is a just a comedy show. It is doing nothing, but threatening of ED inquiries and indulging in character assassination,” he claimed.

  • The long history of Narayan Rane-Uddhav Thackeray rivalry

    Express News Service

    MUMBAI: At the centre of the ‘slap Thackeray’ controversy, Narayan Rane is an old Shiv Sainik who took several detours before finding a place in the BJP in 2019.Out on bail now, the Union minister would have certainly not thought that his Jan Ashirwad Yatra that began on August 16 would also include his arrest. State BJP leaders have demanded a CBI probe into the arrest. However, his animosity with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray goes back a long way. Rane has been a trenchant critic of Uddhav and has been unsparingly harsh on his family, too, often taking digs at his wife Rashmi and son Aditya. During his recent visit to the flood-affected Konkan region, Rane blamed Uddhav’s “bad luck” for disasters.

    ALSO READ | Won’t take coercive action against Narayan Rane on Nashik FIR: Maharashtra govt to HC

    A young Rane from Konkan region started off as a Shiv Sena shakha pramukh at Chembur (Mumbai) and rose through the ranks to become Maharashtra CM in the first Shiv Sena-BJP government for eight months in 1999.Uddhav was the first to object to Rane’s name being proposed in place of Joshi. Uddhav had just started speaking out through his proxies when crucial decisions were made in the Thackeray family. At that time, Shiv Sena was divided into three groups – the Thackeray family, including Balasaheb and Uddhav Thackeray, second one led by Rane and Raj Thackeray and the third included Smita Thackeray, wife of Balasaheb’s middle son Jaidev, and Joshi.

    “Balsaheb wanted to replace Joshi with someone who had grown up with Sena’s street-fighting culture. Besides, Rane had put indirect pressure on him because in 1998 Lok Sabha polls, the Shiv Sena-BJP had lost badly because of Brahamical, soft-spoken leadership of Joshi. The thinking was that if Sena wanted to bring the Maratha-OBC vote bank back again, then Rane, a Maratha by caste, should be made CM. Balasaheb succumbed to pressure and Rane was declared as the next chief minister in 1999,” said a senior Sena leader.This episode sowed the first seeds of discord between Uddhav and Rane. In 2003, the Sena named Uddhav as the party’s executive president and Rane opposed the move.

    ALSO READ | Out on bail, Union Minister Narayan Rane to resume ‘Jan Ashirwad Yatra’ in Maharashtra soon

    The second major face-off involving Uddhav and Rane took place in 1999 state polls. Uddhav tried to push his close supporters’ names while Rane opposed them. “The ambitions of Rane and Uddhav led to a disaster for the Sena. The Sena-BJP fell short of a majority,” says political analyst Dhaval Kulkarni.In 2005, Rane was expelled from the Sena by Balasaheb for “anti-party activities”. In 2017, claiming that Congress had backtracked on its promise to make him CM, Rane left the party to form the Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksh. He declared support to BJP and got elected to the Rajya Sabha and later merged his party in BJP in 2019.That the BJP has chosen Rane to lead its Jan Ashirwad Yatra shows the party is banking on him to take on Uddhav. 

    Aim to control BMCWith over a dozen civic bodies set to go to polls early next year, the Jan Ashirwad yatra is seen as an early campaign. The BJP has primed Rane to oust the Sena from the country’s richest civic body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)

  • Irked Shiv Sena worker purifies Balasaheb Thackeray memorial after BJP union minister’s visit 

    Express News Service

    MUMBAI: After Union Minister Narayan Rane’s visit to late Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray’s memorial in Dadar, irked Shiv Sena workers ‘purified’ the memorial by giving milk ‘abhisheka’ and sprinkling gomutra at the memorial.

    The newly indicted union minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government kick-started BJP’s ‘Jan Ashirwad Yatra’ by visiting his old political mentor late Balasaheb Thackeray’s memorial. Rane said Balasaheb Thackeray had played a major role in his political career.

    “I bowed before Balasaheb Thackeray and told him that saheb you should have been alive today to give me a blessing,” Rane later told reporters.

    However, Shiv Sena Lok Sabha MP Vinayak Raut criticised the visit of Narayan Rane to the Balasaheb Thackeray memorial. He said that Narayan is a traitor. 

    ALSO READ | Narayan Rane has no moral right to visit Balasaheb’s memorial: Sena MP

    “Rane cheated Shiv Sena. He made his career by using Sena and when Sena needed him, he left Sena. He is a selfish person. Balasaheb Thackeray criticised his greedy and selfish nature. Therefore, we protested against his visit. He has no right to visit Balasaheb Thackeray memorial at all,” Raut said.

    Appa Patil, Shiv Sena worker who purified Balasaheb Thackeray memorial said that he starts his day visiting and doing pooja at Thackeray memorial. Therefore, he does not want to visit ‘unpurified’ memorial after Narayan Rane’s visit. 

    He further added Narayan had no moral right to visit Balasaheb Thackeray memorial. Shiv Sena had opposed the visit of Narayan Rane to Thackeray memorial.

    Reacting to Shiv Sena worker’s decision to purify the memorial, BJP leaders said “the time has come to purify the Shiv Sena.” 

    “Does Shiv Sena have any moral high ground to do the purification of late Bal Thackeray memorial? They joined hands with Congress for power. NCP leader Chahagan Bhujbal put Balasaheb Thackeray in jail, with whom Sena is enjoying the power, it shows Sena’s morality. Therefore, Sena’s purification has to be done so that they will get some sense,” Shelar slammed.

    Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition, Legislative Council and BJP MLC Pravin Darekar said that Balasaheb Thackeray memorial is not the private property of anyone that they will stop visiting it. 

    “Everyone loved and revered Balasaheb Thackeray. There should not be any objection over visiting his memorial,” Darekar said.

  • Big battle in BJP Maharashtra, incumbent state president Chandrakant Patil may go soon

    Express News Service

    Maharashtra BJP president Chandrakant Patil has been the eyes and nose of Amit Shah in Maharashtra, but his days seem to be numbered as state president.

    According to the highly placed sources in BJP, Maharashtra state president Chandrakant Patil is no more in the good books of Union minister Amit Shah. As a replacement, senior BJP leaders Chandrashekhar Bawankule and Ashish Shelar, a close confidant of Amit Shah, are going round. Devendra Fadnavis is pitching Bawankule’s name as president as an OBC face.

    “Patil’s extra adventurous decisions of cozying up with MNS chief Raj Thackeray has not gone down well with the Delhi leadership of the BJP in view of Uttar Pradesh state elections. Raj Thackeray is known for his anti north Indian stand. If the BJP allies with Thackeray for the upcoming municipal polls that will have larger repercussions damaging the north Indian vote bank and sending the wrong message ahead of crucial Uttar Pradesh state polls,” said sources requested anonymity.

    Chandrakant Patil was in Delhi and he returned back without meeting Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On the other hand, Leader of Opposition and BJP MLA Devendra Fadnavis met Amit Shah and discussed state issues as well.

    Patil tried to clarify that he had no schedule to meet Amit Shah and Narendra Modi. “But had I met both the leaders, it would have been a great visit to Delhi. I was told that they were busy in the ongoing monsoon session of parliament. People should not read much in my not meeting Amit Shah and Narendra Modi in Delhi visit,” Patil said.

    Sources said that the Patil-Fadnavis duo is not able to topple and counter the Maha Vikas Aghadi led by Uddhav Thackeray, successfully.

    “Delhi leadership of BJP are very much concerned about the Uttar Pradesh and Lok Sabha 2024. Maharashtra is the state that sends 48 members of parliaments that is big therefore they could not afford to lose Maharashtra for a long time. The RSS has also asked to get their act together as BJP organisation is in disarray,” said source requested anonymity.

  • Maharashtra floods: BJP legislators to donate salaries to CMRF 

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: BJP legislators in Maharashtra will donate a month’s salary to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF) for relief and rehabilitation of flood and rain-affected people in the state, party MLA Ashish Shelar said on Wednesday.

    Shelar made the announcement after holding a meeting with the party’s state unit chief Chandrakant Patil and Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis.

    “All legislators of the BJP in lower and upper houses will donate a month’s salary to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. The decision was taken in a meeting attended by state chief Chandrakant Patil and Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis,” he said.

    “It is our request to the chief minister to accept our salaries for relief and rehabilitation work. The state should also provide additional assistance to the affected people,” Shelar added.

    Heavy rains last week caused massive floods and landslides in large parts of the state, especially in the coastal Konkan and Western Maharashtra regions.

    At least 209 people have died, while 4,34,185 people have been evacuated from their homes.

  • With Narayan Rane inducted in Modi’s cabinet, BJP eyes Maratha vote bank

    Express News Service
    MUMBAI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision of inducting former chief minister Narayan Rane in his cabinet is a strong message that the BJP wants to shed its traditional Brahmin-Baniya party image in Maharashtra and plans to foster a strong Maratha leadership.

    The BJP’s chief ministerial pick in the last assembly and current leader in the House, Devendra Fadnavis, is a Brahmin. But after the party lost power, many OBC and other communities started drifting away from it. The negativity against the party has been rising under Fadnavis. Hence, the BJP decided to do expand its vote base beyond Brahmin and Baniya voters.

    During the time of Gopinath Munde, the BJP’s leadership was in the hands of OBC. After the rise of Fadnavis, it has been unable to test any major success despite using all resources. That’s another reason why the party has now decided to strengthen the hands of Rane, a Maratha. BJP sources said from now on, along with Fadnavis he will have a major say in party affairs.

    Maharashtra has more than 30% Maratha population. The state’s politics has been always dominated by Maratha leaders such as Yashwantrao Chavan and Sharad Pawar. “The BJP also has Maratha leaders like Ashish Shelar and Chandrakant Patil, but they have their limitations. By inducting Rane, the party aims to wean away Maratha votes in upcoming polls,” said a senior leader.

    Apart from Rane, the PM has inducted three new faces from the state: Kapil Patil, Bhagwat Karad and Bharati Pawar. Except for Karad, all three have switched to the BJP from other parties. Patil and Pawar were with the NCP earlier. 

    “This is a positive message for outsiders who are in the BJP: that positions are not only given to old and loyal members but also to new entrants provided they are hardworking, aggressively take on the opposition and expand the party base,” said a political observer. “During the last assembly polls, many Congress and NCP leaders joined BJP and got elected. But BJP could not form a government. These  MLAs are unhappy and may consider leaving the party. BJP hopes the message that those who bring benefits to the outfit will be appropriately rewarded will not be lost on such leaders.”

  • Maharashtra BJP holds statewide protest to demand OBC quota in local bodies

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: The Maharashtra unit of the BJP on Saturday held ‘chakka jam’ or road blockade protests across the state demanding restoration of reservation for the Other Backward Classes (OBC) in local governing bodies which was quashed by the Supreme Court in March this year.

    The party had announced that it would hold agitation at 1,000 locations across the state.

    Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Devendra Fadnavis participated in a protest in his home district Nagpur, while Leader of Opposition in the Council Pravin Darekar took part in an agitation in Thane, due to which traffic on the road connecting the city with Mumbai affected for some time.

    Addressing BJP workers in Nagpur, Fadnavis said his party will restore reservation for OBCs in local bodies if given power, and if not, he will retire from politics.

    “The fact is that this issue can be resolved at the state level. The state government can restore the reservation by formulating a law. There is no need for any act of the Central government. That is why OBC reservation is prevalent in other states except in Maharashtra. You (MVA) will have to make a law. We will not stop until we expose their lie. This protest is held to condemn this government on the issue,” he said.

    Fadnavis, who represents Nagpur South-West seat in the Assembly, said OBCs are being purposely deprived of the political reservation.

    “I want to appeal to all the OBC ministers in the MVA government. There is no enmity between us and them. If you are honest towards the cause of the OBCs then regardless of party lines we are ready to stand with you. I want to tell you with full confidence that within the next three to four months we can bring back the OBC reservation. If you give us power…..I want to tell you with confidence that if I fail to bring back the political reservation for OBCs, I will retire from politics,” the former chief minister said.

    Former minister Pankaja Munde, who led a protest in Pune, said if the BJP’s demand are not met, the party will launch bigger protests in future.

    The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in the state has failed to retain political reservation for the OBCs, which is necessary for the community’s uplift, she said.

    Munde alleged the state government kept deferring various elections, including those in the cooperative sector, when the case regarding the OBC reservation was pending in the court, and it was only after the court scrapped the quota, the elections were announced.

    “We are demanding that the OBC reservation be restored and till then no elections should be held. We want the government to approach the Election Commission along with us with a demand to postpone elections,” she said.

    “If the elections are held without the OBC reservation, then we will resort to bigger protests. This ‘chakka jam’ protest is just a trailer,” she added.

    Munde alleged the state government was trying to muzzle the voice of OBCs by depriving them of quota in local bodies.

    “The Supreme Court’s decision should not be viewed as a defeat. We will continue our battle for the quota and try to get it back by mounting pressure on the state government,” she said.

    Former minister and BJP MLA Ashish Shelar said the BJP has decided to intensify the agitation in the coming days.

    “We will not retreat even if more than 1,000 party workers are arrested by the state police,” he said.

    Another BJP leader and former state minister Girish Mahajan and MLA Mangal Prabhat Lodha held a protest outside Mantralaya, the state secretariat in Mumbai, over the issue.

    The BJP-Shiv Sena government in 2019 had allotted political reservation to OBCs in local governing bodies, but in March this year, the Supreme Court had read it down.

    The BJP has alleged that the case was lost only because of the inaction of the Shiv Sena-led MVA government, in which NCP and Congress are partners.

    The State Election Commission had announced bypolls at Dhule, Nandurbar, Washim, Akola and Nagpur districts, and there are 85 seats of Zilla Parishad and 144 panchayat samiti seats for which elections is going to be held.

    The BJP on Friday demanded that the state government approach the Supreme Court immediately requesting that the ZP bypolls be deferred in five districts.

    Maharashtra BJP president Chandrakant Patil challenged OBC leaders in the state government for a public debate with Fadnavis on the issue “so that truth will come out”.

    “Senior leaders and ministers like Chhagan Bhujbal who have been the face of the OBC community for some years should debate why the OBC quota was read down by the Supreme Court in March this year. He should join a debate with Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis at a public function so that everyone will come to know what the truth is,” Patil told reporters in Kolhapur.

    Patil said state OBC welfare minister Vijay Wadettiwar or state Congress chief Nana Patole can join the debate, if it is not possible for Bhujbal to participate.

    “People will come to know who made the mistake,” he added.

    “This MVA government did nothing during the last 15 hearings before the Supreme Court (on OBC quota issue). It did not submit the empirical data hence the court verdict went against the OBC reservation. The state can still set up a backward commission and prepare empirical data,” he said.

    Patil said this government had taken several decisions that went against various communities and groups.

    “The government has lost cases for OBC and Maratha quotas in the Supreme Court. This government also cancelled the reservation quota in promotion in the state administration,” he added.

  • Won’t allow smooth Assembly session until Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Rathod quits: Maharashtra BJP

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: BJP MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar on Friday said the party will not allow the Budget session of the Maharashtra legislature to run smoothly unless Forest Minister Sanjay Rathod stepped down.

    The opposition party has been demanding the resignation of Rathod, a Shiv Sena leader from Yavatmal, since his name was linked to the death of a 23-year-old woman in Pune. Rathod has denied that he had anything to do with the case.

    In a video message, Bhatkhalkar alleged that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray was “planting” stories of Rathod likely to resign before the session begins on March 1. “It is a shameless attempt to maintain image.Unless Rathod steps down or is removed from his post, the BJP will not allow the budget session to run smoothly,” the MLA said.

    “The chief minister can remove Rathod from the cabinet any time, but he is trying to protect the minister by delaying it,” Bhatkhalkar further said. Earlier, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut had said whoever was guilty in the matter would not be spared.

    State BJP vice-president Chitra Wagh, meanwhile, claimed that there were 45 missed calls on the woman’s phone the day she died, and the police needed to probe who this caller was. “This government is sending the very wrong message that if you are in power, you can get away with a murder,” Wagh said.

    The woman, who was staying in Pune’s Hadapsar area, died after allegedly falling from the balcony of her flat on February 8.

  • BJP running fake news factory on social media: Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole on Thursday accused the BJP of running a “fake news factory” on social media and said his party will demolish the same by highlighting facts.

    The BJP hit back at the Congress saying that since the latter has not done any good work, it has nothing to showcase on social media.

    Patole said the BJP was using social media to spread misinformation and create a divide in the society, and added that his party will give a fitting reply to such attempts.

    “The BJP has a fake news factory on social media, which the Congress will demolish by being positive and highlighting facts,” the former Assembly Speaker said at the launch of the party’s social media outreach.

    The Congress’ digital reach will be expanded to villages, he said, adding that two lakh workers will be added to its social media network in the next one month.

    The Congress leader further alleged that Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari was not giving his approval to the nomination of 12 names to the legislative council from the Governor’s quota because of pressure from the BJP’s top leadership.

    When asked about Patole’s remarks, state BJP spokesperson Keshav Upadhye said, “Since the Congress has not done any good work, it lacks content to showcase on social media.”

    Reacting to the charge that the BJP runs a fake new factory, he said, “Such allegations are levelled when somebody faces failure.”