Indian Polls

Mumbai, Nov 8 (PTI) Devendra Fadnavis on Friday resigned as Maharashtra chief minister, five years and a week after he assumed the state's top job, as an aggressive Shiv Sena rebuffed all attempts to form an alliance government.

Fadnavis, 49, drove to Raj Bhavan and handed over his resignation to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, who asked him to be the "caretaker CM" till alternate arrangements are made.

The development came a fortnight after results of the October 21 Assembly elections were declared.

Mumbai, Nov 8 (PTI) With government formation not happening in Maharashtra yet, the NCP on Friday accused the BJP of pushing the state towards President's rule and wanting to run it through Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the NDA constituent's chief Amit Shah.

NCP chief spokesperson Nawab Malik also said the people of Maharashtra will not tolerate this "insult" of the state.

He added history shows the state doesn't bow before the "throne of Delhi".

Mumbai, Nov 7 (PTI) Senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday said there was no change in his party's stand on government formation in Maharashtra and reiterated the demand for sharing the chief minister's post.

He also asked that if the people's mandate was for the 'Mahayuti' (grand alliance), why the BJP was not staking claim to form government.

In an veiled attack on the BJP, he said those responsible for political instability were causing harm the state.

Dehradun, Nov 6 (PTI) A majority of the BJP's block pramukh candidates won in Uttarakhand on Wednesday, with the party thanking the people of the state for reposing their faith in it once again.

Out of the total of 89 block pramukh posts that went to polls, 53 were won by the BJP, 20 by the Congress and 16 by Independents, according to the final results.

Polling was held on Wednesday and the results declared this evening.

Mumbai, Nov 6 (PTI) Amid the stand-off over government formation in Maharashtra, senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut meet NCP chief Sharad Pawar in Mumbai on Wednesday.

"This was a courtesy call," Raut told reporters later.

Mumbai, Nov 6 (PTI) NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Wednesday asked the BJP and Shiv Sena to form government in Maharashtra at the earliest, and asserted that the NCP and Congress will work as a "responsible opposition".

Addressing a press conference here after meeting senior Shiv Sena leader and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut, Pawar ruled out joining the Uddhav Thackeray-led party in government with the outside support of the Congress.

Mumbai, Nov 3 (PTI) 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, the Shiv Sena seems to have reached out to the Sharad Pawar-led party on Sunday.

The speculation the Sena was exploring alternative options other than the ally BJP got strengthened on Sunday when senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar showed reporters a phone message from Sena MP Sanjay Raut, which just contained a formal introduction of and greetings from the latter.

Mumbai, Nov 2 (PTI) Amid uncertainty over government formation in Maharashtra, MNS president Raj Thackeray on Saturday met NCP chief Sharad Pawar at the latter's residence here.

It was a brief, 10-minute meeting, MNS sources said.

The political impasse in the state continues after Assembly election results were announced on October 24, with victorious allies BJP and Shiv Sena bickering over chief minister's post.

Chandigarh, Oct 27 (PTI) Manohar Lal Khattar took oath as Haryana chief minister for the second time on Sunday and will lead the BJP-JJP coalition government in the state.

JJP leader Dushyant Chautala took oath as the deputy chief minister.

Haryana Governor Satyadeo Narain Arya administered oath at a ceremony held at the Raj Bhawan here on Diwali day.

Mumbai, Oct 26 (PTI) As many as 176 newly-elected MLAs in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly are facing criminal charges, as per data released by an advocacy group on Saturday.

On analysing self-sworn affidavits of 285 of the total 288 MLAs, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) found that 62 per cent (176 MLAs) have criminal cases pending against them while 40 per cent (113 MLAs) have serious criminal cases.