Jarange’s latest agitation is testing both Fadnavis and Shinde and the Mahayuti’s ability to contain the Maratha movement. Manoj Jarange Patil’s latest agitation has moved beyond the question of reservation. It has become a test of political authority, the internal balance of the Mahayuti and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s ability to contain a movement that has already demonstrated its capacity to shape Maharashtra’s electoral politics. For three years, one feature of the

Mumbai: In an abrupt development, the 110-day old Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founded by Maharashtra’s Abhijeet Dipke has reportedly split with a Gujarat-based activist Manish Brahmbhatt announcing a rival ‘CJP-Democratic’ – amid political accusations hurled at each other. Announcing the new faction in New Delhi today, Brahmbhatt claimed that the original CJP which emerged from a movement built on the blood and sweat of people subsequently transformed itself solely into a h

Mumbai: Emboldened by his fiery stance, local coordination committees issued an ultimatum to the administration, declaring a complete Marathwada Bandh for Thursday, with voluntary shut-downs already paralyzing towns across Latur, Nanded, and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. While essential services are expected to function, wholesale agricultural markets, commercial centres, government establishments, and educational institutions face forced closures. In dozens of ham-lets across M

Mumbai: Arterial transport corridors ground to a halt, commercial hubs shuttered their doors, and police battalions were deployed across central and western Maharashtra as the Maratha reservation agitation reached a boiling point on Wednesday. Entering the fifth day of his indefinite fast unto death at Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna district, activist Manoj Jarange Patil drastically hardened his stance, spurning all medical interventions, maintaining silence on a 15-point

The Supreme Court has protected genuine protesters – but it has not created immunity for those who misuse a protest for unlawful ends. The Supreme Court’s decision concerning the recent student protests deserves to be welcomed—not selectively, but in its entirety. For me, this is not merely a question of the ruling party versus the Opposition, nor should every public protest be viewed through that narrow political prism. As a legislator, I have myself raised several issues of

Mumbai: RSS Sarsanghachalak Mohan Bhagwat’s recent assertion in New York that a Hindu who desires an India without Muslims is “not a Hindu” has triggered a fierce and multi-layered debate across the political spectrum and social media. Addressing the ‘One World One Humanity’ event, Bhagwat emphasized that the true essence of being a Hindu mandates believing that all paths lead to the same God and that every human being possesses inherent dignity, irrespective of their religio

Mumbai: Maharashtra Navnirman Vidyarthi Sena President Amit Thackeray’s outreach to GenZ students in Pune began with a political row after some supporters yanked off an official photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the Government Polytechnic College Principal’s office in Shivajinagar. The son of MNS President Raj Thackeray, Amit had ostensibly gone to inspect facilities for the students in the hostel and college when a youngster pointed out to the picture of PM dis

At forty-six, Nitin Nabin—the chief of the Bharatiya Janata Party—has taken his initial, decisive steps to assert organisational authority. Stepping out from the long shadows cast by the seasoned political heavyweights of the Centre, the Modi-Shah duo, is a formidable endeavour. Yet, in orchestrating his inaugural slate of office bearers, Nabin has demonstrated subtle tactical adroitness, signalling a deliberate shift. Bringing back feisty Smriti Irani, who had fallen from gr

The Marathi language rule for auto and taxi drivers can promote integration, but only if it does not become another instrument of identity politics. The political scenario in Maharashtra has changed after the Cockroach Janata Party’s (CJP) agitation, and every political party is now trying to woo ‘Gen Z’ which could emerge as a significant vote bank by 2029. But Maharashtra’s political conversation has moved to a much more emotionally charged issue: the Marathi language requi

AI generated image Mumbai: The ruling Mahayuti coalition in Maharashtra is witnessing a delicate political balancing act, with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis increasingly overriding key decisions of alliance partners, particularly the Shiv Sena, while simultaneously attempting to placate them on other fronts. The tension within the alliance came to the fore on Thursday when Fadnavis stepped in to dilute a controversial mandate enforced by Shiv Sena Transport Minister Prat

There is something reassuring about a spade. It does not ask who is holding it before doing its job. It digs where it is told to dig. A hole made by a government worker is no different from one made by an opposition worker. The earth, fortunately, has no political affiliation. That simple image offers a useful way of looking at the Cockroach Janata Party, or CJP, a youth-led movement that has emerged around concerns over education, employment and accountability. Its significa

The Jantar Mantar protests exposed the widening gap between education, employment and growth. The month-long protest at Delhi's Jantar Mantar may have formally ended, but the political and economic questions it raised will linger. Triggered by the NEET paper leak, the movement became a major expression of youth discontent. What began as a demand for a fair examination system became a broader indictment of an economic model that promises opportunity but increasingly fails to d

From Kanhaiya Kumar to Arvind Kejriwal, Indian politics offers a warning about movements that struggle to grow beyond one dominant face. Watching Abhijeet Dipke rise to prominence recently made me think of Kanhaiya Kumar. Not necessarily because of their politics, but because of a pattern. Kanhaiya did not emerge alone. During the JNU agitation of 2016, Umar Khalid, Shehla Rashid and Anirban Bhattacharya were also prominent voices. Yet one person became the most recognisable

Ever since the protests at Jantar Mantar over the NEET paper leak, Gen-Z and its zealous outbursts against several issues in society are quickly becoming national headlines. Ranchi saw Gen-Z protesting against irregularities in the functioning of JPSC and JSSC. CJP started the ‘School Thik Karo’ campaign against mismanagement of schools in villages. Even an individual woman tourist in Jammu and Kashmir attempted, single-handedly, to lead a protest against the Indian Army for

Says, girls are being relegated to remain caged, but boys get full freedom to do whatever they want Pune : In an all-out attack on the ancient ‘Manusmriti’ social code, Congress Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi issued a clarion call to “Smash Patriarcy” which seeks to control, confine and silence women, while denying them freedom, dignity, safety and economic independence. Speaking in bouts at the fourth edition of ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ in Pune, Rahul Gandhi blunt

Mumbai: They came carrying more than placards and flags, but with hope and faith writ on their faces. Thousands of young women from Pune city, the district and adjoining regions converged on Saturday evening to hear Congress Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi at the fourth edition of his Chhatron Ki Goonj – and a maiden one dedicated exclusively to girls. The mood was palpable even before Rahul Gandhi reached the AISSMS College ground. Groups of girls arrived

Mumbai: An innocuous video of bad quality food items posted by an Anganwadi worker in Pune sparked off a major political spat with the ruling Mahayuti and Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi trading charges. Three days ago, an Anganwadi worker, Reshma alias Devyani Pardhi - who also doubles as a teacher - at the Thakurwadi-Chass Gram Panchayat in Ambegaon taluka of Pune, posted a video of inferior and uncookable dried yellow peas served as lunch to the tiny tots there. She claimed t

From Gadkari’s protégé to Fadnavis’s trusted lieutenant, Chandrashekhar Bawankule’s journey captures shifting power equations within the Maharashtra BJP. By the time Maharashtra politics reaches its next important turn, Chandrashekhar Bawankule may find himself playing a role considerably larger than that of a Revenue Minister. His journey from a grassroots OBC leader shaped by Nitin Gadkari’s political influence to a trusted lieutenant of Devendra Fadnavis, offers an instruc

Mumbai: In 2014, when Narendra Modi first ascended to the Prime Minister’s office, he entrusted the politically complex and electorally decisive state of Uttar Pradesh to his closest confidant, Amit Shah. Now, in a move that has sent ripples through the corridors of power, the Bharatiya Janata Party has bestowed that exact strategic mantle upon its National General Secretary, Vinod Tawde. With the crucial Uttar Pradesh assembly elections looming just a year away in 2027, Tawd

Mumbai: The Maharashtra Congress is gearing up for its massive students-GenZ outreach programme in Pune on August 22, the fourth edition of its ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ series, which will be held as an all-women initiative for the first time and hosted by Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi. The event, expected to draw around 10,000 young women, is being positioned by the Congress as a major outreach programme aimed at engaging with women students and the wider GenZ c