The Naravane book episode shows how Opposition politics has slipped from demanding accountability into calculated institutional vandalism. India’s latest parliamentary rupture did not begin with a bill or a vote of confidence but with a book that officially does not yet exist. Earlier this week, during the Budget Session, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi rose in the Lok Sabha brandishing  Four Stars of Destiny , the autobiography of former Army Chief General M.M. Naravane with th

Rohit Pawar bays for probe, suspension of VRSVPL Mumbai: In a major development, a team of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) reached Pune and carried out a detailed inspection of the Baramati airport where the Learjet crash killed Nationalist Congress Party President and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Anantrao Pawar on Jan. 28. The visit came barely 12 hours after Nationalist Congress Party (SP) MLA Rohit R. Pawar made sensational disclosures connected to the air-c

Mumbai: The brief window for a "Pawar Family Reunion" appears to have slammed shut. Any lingering hopes of merging the two factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) following the tragic demise of Ajit Pawar have effectively evaporated in the last 24 hours. The emotional overtures of the past week have been replaced by a bitter political trench war, fueled by explosive allegations from Rohit Pawar, aggressive maneuvering in Parliament, and a decisive "stamp of approval"

With a sweeping municipal mandate in hand, Maharashtra’s ruling alliance must prove that concrete victories can translate into everyday competence. Nearly a month after the January 15 civic polls, the BJP-led Mahayuti is consolidating its clear majority in most of the 29 municipal corporations. While the election of mayors and deputy mayors nears completion, the formation of key standing committees remains stalled. For city administrations emerging from years of bureaucratic

The Shiv Sena (UBT) chief may secure his berth in the Legislative Council over the Rajya Sabha seat Mumbai: As the political dust settles from the municipal elections, a new crisis is brewing for Shiv Sena (UBT) Chief Uddhav Thackeray. The date May 13, 2026, looms large on the calendar—the day his tenure as a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) expires. In normal circumstances, a party chief’s re-election to the Upper House is a formality. But, in the current fractured la

It was not once, but thrice, that Maharashtra came close to having a woman as its chief minister. Destiny—and party calculus—intervened each time. As January drew to a close, 67 years after the state’s formation, Maharashtra finally saw its first woman deputy chief minister: a grieving Sunetra Pawar. The moment was marked not by celebration but by tragedy. She had lost her husband, the powerful Ajit Pawar, in an aircraft crash just days earlier. Her elevation came less from c

Spotlight turns to Sharad Pawar’s next move Mumbai: With the dust barely settling on the recent political upheavals in Maharashtra, the state is bracing for yet another high-stakes battle. Seven seats from Maharashtra in the Rajya Sabha are set to fall vacant on April 2, triggering an election that will be decided not by popular vote, but by the ruthless arithmetic of the State Assembly. For the ruling Mahayuti alliance, the numbers promise a near-clean sweep. For the battere

The rise of the late Ajit Pawar’s wife will test whether patience and emotional control can succeed in one of India’s most abrasive political arenas. When Sunetra Pawar, wife of Maharashtra’s late Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, stepped into active politics, the question that immediately followed her was direct and unavoidable: Can she handle politics? This question is being asked not just by opposition leaders or television panellists, but also by ordinary citizens trying

Mumbai: The simmering tension between the two factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) boiled over on Thursday, as NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) State President Sunil Tatkare launched a scathing counter-attack against the Sharad Pawar-led faction. Though he didn’t directly dismissed the growing speculations and pressure regarding "merger" of the two groups, Tatkare questioned the timing and intent behind these overtures, hinting at a power grab disguised as unity. In a fie

Ajit Pawar’s sudden death has left allies, rivals and Pune city itself groping for its bearings. For a brief moment, Pune’s politics looked unusually tidy. The municipal election results delivered a decisive verdict: the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the undisputed winner, its dominance unchallenged even by partners within the ruling alliance. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) faction led by Ajit Pawar, though part of the same governing arrangement at the state l

MUMBAI : Nationalist Congress Party (SP) President Sharad Pawar scorned Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for his comments a couple of days ago that the late Deputy CM Ajit Pawar “ had not informed the Bharatiya Janata Party” of the impending purported merger of his Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).   Shooting a dart at Fadnavis in his characteristic style, Pawar  said that “the CM was not involved in the talks between the two parties” - which split in July 2023.   “I cannot u

Eknath Shinde’s high stakes pivot in the post-Ajit era Mumbai: The swearing-in of Sunetra Pawar as Deputy Chief Minister has optically restored the Mahayuti’s "tripod" structure, but for Eknath Shinde and his Shiv Sena faction, the ground reality has shifted seismically. The sudden exit of Ajit Pawar—often seen as the "counterweight" in the alliance—has fundamentally rewritten Shinde’s survival equation. For the last two years, Shinde operated in a high-pressure "sandwich" be

At the height of his superstardom, Tamil cinema’s favourite son steps off the silver screen to test the limits of political charisma. Tamil superstar Thalapathy Vijay recently surprised many by announcing that his upcoming film Jan Nayak will be his last, at a moment when his film career appears to be at its peak. Vijay is adored by audiences of all ages, not only in Tamil Nadu but across South India and throughout the global Tamil diaspora. After years of delivering hit and

Mumbai:  Damning all political ‘pundits’ and ‘punters’ on the fate of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) after its President and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar’s numbing death in an air-crash on Jan. 28, his widow Sunetra Ajit Pawar seamlessly bounced into his place, both in the party and the government. Feeling orphaned and rudderless, the top-brass quickly elected Sunetra, 62, a Rajya Sabha Member, as the new NCP President, as the NCP Legislature Party Group Leader and as the Deputy CM

New Delhi:  In the wake of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's untimely death, a whirlwind of political maneuvering has engulfed the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and its Sharad Pawar-led faction (NCP-SP). Yet, amid the frenzy, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has taken the high road, choosing to stay sensitively neutral out of deep respect for the departed leader. This deliberate restraint from BJP's senior leaders signals a maturity, indicating that they under

Mumbai : With dizzying political developments this week, the proposed re-unification of Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (SP) with Sunetra Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party appears to be in a limbo – due to power politics on both sides.   The whispered talks of the merger – laid bare by Sharad Pawar himself today in his explosive media interaction – triggered a furious and urgent race to secure organisational control of the NCP.   In barely 72 hours after Aji

Questions raised over Parth Pawar’s political trajectory Mumbai: Absence of Parth Pawar, elder son of late Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and newly sworn-in Deputy CM Sunetra Pawar, from his mother’s swearing-in ceremony has sparked intense speculation in Maharashtra’s political circles. While Sunetra Pawar stepped into her husband’s shoes with the blessings of the Mahayuti coalition, Parth’s conspicuous absence has raised questions about his political trajectory and the fu

Mumbai: President Droupadi Murmu has taken immediate cognizance of a plea pointing at grave insults to the Indian Tricolour (Tiranga) in pubs and hotels, violations to the Flag Code of India, 2002, in the name of celebrating Republic Day and Independence Day. Pune businessman-cum-activist Prafful Sarda had shot off a complaint to the President on Jan. 26 but was surprised to receive a response from her office in less than 72 hours. Under Secretary Lakshmi Maharabooshanam in t

Kalyan: The political uncertainty surrounding the mayoral post of the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) came to an end on Friday, as the Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) and BJP, with support from the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), filed unopposed nomination papers for the posts of Mayor and Deputy Mayor. Shiv Sena corporator Adv. Harshali Thavil filed her nomination for Mayor, while BJP corporator Rahul Damle filed his nomination for Deputy Mayor, making their elect

Maharashtra is rebuilding its ‘Iron Frame’ of women leadership Manisha Patankar-Mhaiskar Ashwini Bhide Mumbai: In the wake of a tragic week that saw the sudden demise of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, the contours of power in Maharashtra are being redrawn with a distinct and decisive feature: the ascendancy of women to the state's highest political and administrative offices. With