Maharashtra Assembly

The Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on Friday staged a walkout to protest the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as a member of the Lok Sabha. Earlier in the day, the Lok Sabha Secretariat said Gandhi has been disqualified from the Lok Sabha, a day after a Surat court convicted him in a 2019 criminal defamation case. We condemn the decision to disqualify Rahul Gandhi as a member of the Lok Sabha. We decided to walk out in protest, said senior Congress leader Nana Patole. The Opposition members, including MLAs from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Shiv Sena (UBT), then protested on the stairs of Vidhan Bhavan. Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar said the law under which a member stands disqualified after a conviction was enacted by the erstwhile Congress-led UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government and the Centre has implemented it. The Congress MLAs staging a walkout is laughable, he said. A court in Surat sentenced Gandhi to t

Members of the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena combine on Thursday targeted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Maharashtra Assembly, accusing him of making derogatory remarks against Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar, and sought the Speaker's permission to move a resolution against him. Sena legislator Pratap Sarnaik raised the issue saying Gandhi has repeatedly insulted Savarkar, while his party colleague Sanjay Shirsat sought the permission of the chair to move a resolution against the Congress MP. Who has given him the right to insult freedom fighters? We want your permission to move a resolution against Rahul Gandhi, Shirsat said. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Ashish Shelar demanded an apology from Gandhi. When Congress' Balasaheb Thorat demanded that he be allowed to speak, Shelar asked if Thorat would apologise. Treasury benches' members then walked to the well and shouted, Rahul Gandhi hai hai. Gali gali mai shor hai, Rahul Gandhi chor hai. This led to the House being adjourned twice

Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly Ajit Pawar on Wednesday lashed out at the state government over the absence of ministers during the special sitting of the House due to which 7 of the 8 calling attention notices had to be postponed. This elicited an apology from Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. A calling attention notice allows House members to bring the attention of a minister to a matter of urgent public importance. The issue cropped up after the Assembly, which is having its budget session, resumed its proceedings for the day at 11 am. As soon as Speaker Rahul Narvekar took up the Question Hour, an agitated Ajit Pawar said that in the special sitting today, 8 calling attention notices were listed but just one, related to tourism, could be taken up for discussion because only that minister concerned was present. The rest had to be postponed due to the absence of other ministers, he said. This is the height of shamelessness when ministers do not take legislati

Maharashtra's economy is expected to grow by 6.8 per cent in FY 23 as against the projected growth of the Indian economy by 7 per cent, as per the Economic Survey 2022-23 tabled in the state Legislative Assembly on Wednesday. The agriculture and allied activities sector will grow by 10.2 per cent in the state, as per the survey tabled by state finance minister Devendra Fadnavis in the Assembly on the eve of the presentation of the Budget. The industry sector is expected to grow by 6.1 per cent and the services sector by 6.4 per cent, it said. As per the advance estimates, the nominal (at current prices) gross state domestic product (GSDP) for 2022-23 is expected to be Rs 35,27,084 crore and the real (at constant 2011-12 prices) GSDP is expected to be Rs 21,65,558 crore, it stated. The report stated the average share of Maharashtra in the national nominal GDP is highest at 14 per cent. As per the advanced estimates, the per capita state income for 2022-23 is expected at 2,42,247 as

Recent unseasonal rains damaged standing crops on 13,729 hectares in 8 districts of Maharashtra and orders have been issued to provide immediate relief, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told the state assembly on Wednesday. He said the untimely showers affected crops like mango, wheat and harbhara' (Bengal gram). Orders to release immediate relief and financial assistance have been issued, said Fadnavis. Maximum damage has been reported from Palghar, Nashik, Ahmednagar, Jalgaon, Nandurbar, Dhule, Buldhana and Washim districts, he said. A decision on immediate relief was taken on Tuesday night based on preliminary information and the exact extent of damage is being ascertained, he said. On Tuesday, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's office said that he had spoken with the chief secretary and a few district collectors about the damage to crops. He had also instructed revenue officials to conduct the damage assessment survey of the affected areas, his office had said. On Wednesda

Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday pitched for contesting the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly and the Lok Sabha polls together with the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena and Congress. Talking to reporters, he claimed that despite a split in the Shiv Sena, majority of the hardcore Shiv Sainiks who work on the ground stand behind Uddhav Thackeray. Pawar said MLAs and MPs may have aligned with the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena after the split, but when polls take place, they will also know what the views of people are. After the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections, Thackeray had snapped ties with long-term ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and tied-up with the NCP and Congress to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in the state. The Thackeray government collapsed in June last year after a revolt led by Shinde against the Sena leadership. To a query on the issue of alliance, Pawar said, The understanding is that the Congress, NCP and Uddhav ...

The Legislative Assembly of Maharashtra was prorogued here on Friday as the winter session of the Maharashtra legislature came to an end. The two-week session had started on December 19. Speaker Rahul Narwekar read out Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's prorogation order, and said the Budget session will start in Mumbai from February 27, 2023.

Opposition members staged a demonstration by taking out a foot march like 'warkaris' in the Maharashtra legislature complex on Tuesday and accused the Eknath Shinde-led state government of indulging in corruption. On Monday, both Houses of the Maharashtra legislature were adjourned for the day after the opposition stalled the proceedings demanding Agriculture Minister Abdul Sattar's resignation over a land 'regularisation' order passed by him when he was a minister in the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court last week issued a notice to Sattar who had ordered 'regularisation' of the possession of land reserved for public 'gairan' (grazing) in favour of a private person in the face of a civil court order. Earlier, the opposition members had also demanded Chief Minister Shinde's resignation after a Nagpur bench of the HC on December 14 ordered status quo on a decision taken by him of allotment of land meant for slum dwellers to private

According to the Bill, the Lokayukta will have to seek the approval of the assembly before initiating any inquiry against the chief minister and bringing a motion before the session of the house

Legislators of the Shiv Sena faction of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde targeted former minister Aaditya Thackeray by displaying a banner against him on the steps of the Vidhan Bhavan here on Thursday. Aaditya Thackeray countered them by shouting a slogan implying that MLAs of the Shinde faction got money to switch loyalty, which had resulted in the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led government comprising the Sena, NCP and Congress. Legislators from the Shinde faction carried banners with the message: "Yuvrajanchi disha chukli" (the prince missed his path) on the steps of the Vidhan Bhavan where the state legislature session is currently underway. MLA Bharat Gogawale told reporters that if legislators of the Shinde group are targeted repeatedly, they would not sit with folded hands. "We will respond," he said. On the other side, Aaditya Thackeray and some legislators of the Congress and NCP shouted slogans demanding that a "wet drought" be declared in Maharashtra to pro

The Maharashtra Legislative Council on Tuesday passed two bills that will enable election of gram panchayat sarpanches, presidents of municipal councils and nagar panchayats directly by voters. The bills were cleared by the Legislative Assembly on Monday. Tabling the Maharashtra Municipal Councils, Nagar Panchayats and Industrial Townships Act, 1965, in the Upper House, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said the move was aimed at increasing accountability of these local bodies. So far, members of gram panchayats, municipal councils and nagar panchayats had been electing chiefs of these bodies. Opposing the bills, Ambadas Danve, the Leader of Opposition and Shiv Sena legislator, asked what would be the situation if the president is elected from one party, while councillors of another party have a majority. Danve and Eknath Khadse (NCP) asked Shinde the reason behind changing his stand as it was the Urban Development Department under him in the previous Uddhav Thackeray government that .

Just before the monsoon session of the Maharashtra legislature began, the opposition parties raised slogans against the Eknath Shinde-led state government on the steps of the Vidhan Bhavan

After being dislodged from power in Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena has staked claim for the post of leader of opposition in the state Legislative Council

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde flew to Delhi on Friday evening, officials said. During his first visit to the national capital after he took over as chief minister, he is expected to meet the top BJP leadership, sources said. The visit also comes ahead of a crucial hearing in the Supreme Court on July 11 on a petition filed by the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena seeking disqualification of Shinde and 15 MLAs of his faction. Shinde was sworn in as chief minister on June 30 with the support of the BJP after he rebelled against Thackeray and brought down the Thackeray-led coalition government. Shinde took a government charter flight for Delhi at 5.30 pm, officials said. He will fly back to Pune on Saturday evening and proceed to Pandharpur for the Ashadhi Ekadashi puja at the Lord Vitthal temple on Sunday.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will visit New Delhi on Friday, his first tour of the national capital after taking oath of his new office last month, an official said on Thursday.

A day after Eknath Shinde won the Vote of Confidence in the Maharashtra Assembly, Shiv Sena on Tuesday termed the victory as "stolen majority" and said that it was "not the belief of the people"

Pointing to the hectic political activities of the last fortnight, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday said he will need time and consultation to bring things up and running

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday made it public that the BJP was an active participant in his recent uprising against Shiv Sena leadership. Shinde's remarks in the State Assembly, after he won the floor test in the House, left no one in doubt that BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, now the deputy CM, was actively involved in the Shinde-led group's activities. As his group MLAs were camping at a luxury hotel on Guwahati late last month, there were reports that Shinde had held a secret meeting with Fadnavis after reaching Gujarat from Guwahati. The reports claimed that before dawn, Shinde came back to the Guwahati hotel, where he was camping with 40 MLAs who turned against the MVA government in Maharashtra. Our numbers were less (than BJP's) but PM Narendra Modi blessed us. Modi saheb told me before the swearing in that he will extend all possible help to me. Amit Shah saheb said he will stand behind us like a rock, Shinde said. But the biggest kalakar (artist) is this o

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday said he had been suppressed for a long time and the rebellion led by him was a fallout of the unfair treatment meted out to him

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday hailed the victory of his faction in the floor test of the Maharashtra Assembly.Speaking in the Assembly today, Shinde said, "I thank Devendra Fadnavis ji for giving me a chance to work as a minister in the previous government... I could work on Samruddhi Mahamarg project. He was to give the Deputy CM post to Shiv Sena also in 2019.""We are Shivsainiks and we will always be Shivsainiks of Balasaheb and Anand Dighe. I want to remind you who was there and who got Balasaheb's voting banned for six years," the Maharashtra Chief Minister said."Initially, I was supposed to be made the Chief Minister in the MVA government... But later Ajit Dada (Ajit Pawar) or someone said that I should not be made the Chief Minister. I had no problem and I told Uddhav ji to go ahead, and that I was with him. I never eyed that post," Shinde said.Shinde referred to two of his children who had died and got emotional."They attacked my family...My father is ...