Vilasrao desmukh as CM of Maharashtra ?

Vilasrao desmukh is one of the contender of Maharastra CM post after Congress NCP alliance won the Maharashtra assembly election 2009.

Union heavy industries minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Friday said that he is not a contender for the chief minister's post in Maharashtra.

Vilas rao desmukh has support of 50 MLAs and he was senior congress leader who played vital role in UPA's win in Maharashtra assembly election 2009.

Race for Maharashtra CM: What makes Chavan 'lucky'

Despite making clear their ambitions to make a comeback to Mumbai, the chances of the troika -- Narayan Rane, Vilasrao Deshmukh and Sushilkumar Shinde – appear bleak before `lucky’ Ashok Chavan. Why is Chavan lucky, one may ask. Well, despite a 0.1 percent dip in terms of voting figures in the just concluded Assembly polls, the Congress managed to bounce back to power with a better performance, thanks to the new poster boy of Mumbai – Raj Thackeray. Raj’s MNS sliced deep into the pie of the Shiv Sena and the BJP, allowing the Congress and Chavan to run away with the cake.

Source : http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3312218

Vilasrao rallies for development in Chandrapur

CHANDRAPUR: Union minister for heavy industries Vilasrao Deshmukh expressed confidence that the Congress-NCP would regain power in the state and
urged the people to vote for Congress candidates for the sale of development. He addressed an election rally at Ballarpur in support of Congress candidate Rahul Puglia on Monday besides attending two other public meetings at Warora and Rajura in the district.

"The people of the region had been deprived of development for the past 15 years due to the opposition MLA. The opposition MLA could do nothing more than sending letters. However, if the voters want a positive change in their constituency then only Congress candidate could give them that," Deshmukh said.

Making an indirect reference to the divide between MNS chief Raj Thackeray and Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray, the former chief minister of Maharashtra said that two brothers are busy quarreling over the 'Marathi Manus' issue. In such conditions, only Congress can actually solve the problems encountered by the general public.

Senior Congress leader and former MP Naresh Puglia, candidate Rahul Puglia, Congress district president Vinayak Bangde, zilla parishad president Santosh Rawat, MLC Zianuddin Zaveri, NCP leaders Rajendra Vaidya, Babasaheb Wasade and other senior leaders were present on the occasion.

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Maharashtra poll: Gujaratis left neglected by Marathi focus

Maharashtra poll: Gujaratis left neglected by Marathi focus

MUMBAI: Fear of losing Marathi votes, thanks to Raj Thackeray's hate campaign against the north Indians in Maharashtra has left the 40-lakh
strong Gujarati community in Mumbai completely ignored by all political parties. There are just two candidates from the community in Mumbai, one from Congress and the other from BJP. Earlier, the Gujaratis were used to be a back-bone of BJP. But the party, this time appears more interested in winning over Mumbai's Hindi-speaking people than the Gujaratis, thanks again to the MNS.

"Because of the MNS the Sena is forced to concentrate on Marathi votes. It can't be seen wooing the north Indians. That job now has been left to us," a BJP leader said. The party has fielded four north Indian candidates in Mumbai while only one from the Gujarati community, Prakash Mehta, has been given another chance. This is said to be a conscious move by BJP to make up for its alliance partner Shiv Sena's concentration on Marathi manoos.

But the move does not seem to have gone down well with the trader community. BEST committee chairman Pravin Chheda from the Gujarati-dominated Ghatkopar, unhappy at being denied a ticket, had even staged a dharna while senior leader Jaywantiben Mehta is also said to be unhappy. However, ex-MLA and BJP's south Mumbai district president Atul Shah attributes the decline of Guajaratis among party candidates to delimitation. "Many seats with strong Gujarati vote banks have been merged with other areas which has resulted in some seats losing its Gujarati domination," he says.

Not everyone is convinced, though. Viren Shah, founder of Gujarati Ekta Samiti is of the opinion that MNS and Shive Sena's campaign has resulted in the polarization of North Indian votes which resulted in the Gujarati community being ignored. "Gujarati community needs to come together to build their own vote bank like other migrants," said Mr Shah.

Kishor Kharawala, an executive member of BJP's Trade and Industry Cell and also a Secretary of Federation of Association of Maharashtra (FAM) says that party has committed a big mistake by not giving tickets to Gujratis. "This is the time when Gujaratis and Marwaris should come to-gather as a "business-buddies" in politics rather than keeping themselves away from each other," said Mr Kharawala.

Secretary of Bombay Sub-urban Grain Dealers Association, Chandrakant Gala feels that Gujarati community traditionally stays with BJP- Sena coalition, but since this time community dose not get enough representation here. They might change their loyalty in some pockets like Ghatkopar, Mulund etc, where they have decisive voting capacity.

A NCP leader has a different take. "Despite being the same size as North ndians, Gujarati voters are not disciplined, lack enthusiasm and do not ote en mass. This is the major reason why community leaders are not getting s much tickets as their other migrant counter parts," said Hemraj Shah, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) spokseperson and president of Bruhad Mumbai Gjarati Samaj.

Whatever the cause be, it has affected the Gujratis.

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PM likely to visit Maharashtra on Oct 11

New Delhi, Oct 5 (PTI) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to visit Maharashtra on October 11 to campaign for Congress nominees in the next week's assembly polls in the state where the party shares power with NCP.

He is also expected to address an election rally in Haryana on October seven and another such meeting in the state later, PMO sources said.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi has already launched her party's campaign in Haryana, where Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda got the Assembly polls advanced by seven months hoping to cash in on the popularity of the party, which bagged nine out of 10 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

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Cong, NCP may clash over CM’s post

The tussle for the top post in Maharashtra is on not only between Congress leaders but also between the Congress and its ally, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

DP Tripathi, NCP spokesperson, had said the party that gets more seats should also get the chief minister’s post. Though the Congress was a couple of seats behind the NCP in the 2004 polls, it managed to keep the CM’s post. The Congress is unlikely to give up its claim to the post if the combine is voted to power.

The contenders in the Congress include incumbent Ashok Chavan, his predecessors Vilasrao Deshmukh, Sushilkumar Shinde and Narayan Rane. Rane has always been open about his desire to occupy the chair. He recently said he would not stake claim to the CM’s post but much would depend on the number of supporters each of these leaders manage to get elected.

Source : http://www.topnews.in

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No trading on Oct 13 due to Maharashtra assembly polls

In view of the General Assembly Elections in Maharashtra, the Government of Maharashtra vide its notification dated September 29, 2009 has declared the day of Polling i.e Tuesday, October 13, 2009 a Public Holiday in the State under section 25 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881. Accordingly, the exchanges will also observe Tuesday, October 13, 2009 as a Holiday.

A notice is also being issued to all trading members declaring Tuesday, October 13, 2009 as a trading holiday.

Source : MoneyControl.com

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Maharashtra polls: Sonia to campaign on Oct 5-6

Mumbai: Congress President and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi will be on a whirlwind tour of the Maharashtra on October 5 and 6, during which she will address five meetings including one in Mumbai. On October 5, she will address a campaign at Nashik and Nanded and on October 6, she will hold campaign meetings in Jamner in Jalgaon, Buldhana and Mumbai. Senior Congress leaders would be present in these meetings.

Source : Sify

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Women to boycott Maharashtra poll

Nearly 900,000 women will boycott the forthcoming elections in India's Maharashtra state, activists say.

The protesters include handicapped, widowed and underprivileged devadasi (literally slaves of god) women.

The women are angry because they say their demands for employment, pension and ration card have been ignored by all political parties.

They have set a deadline of 10 October for meeting their demands. Assembly elections are due on 13 October.

'So old'

"We have made several written requests, held demonstrations and meetings with all political parties to give ration cards to these women," said Vilasbhau Rupwate who represents destitute women, widows and devadasis.

"Some widows are so old they cannot work. Earlier they used to get 500 rupees ($10) every quarter. Now even that has been discontinued," he said.

Mr Rupwate said they had asked for a monthly pension of 2,000 rupees ($50) for them.

Latatai Sakat, who represents the devadasis, says the government refuses to process any of their documents like caste certificates, income or age proof.

"Most of them are not educated. They have no savings and end up working in an unorganised manner. They have been dependent on a certain tradition which is fast dying."

Devadasis are women who are given away to a local temple and married off to the deity and serve as sex workers for temple priests and local bigwigs.

It is an age-old religious practice which still continues in some parts of south India and Maharashtra.

Asha Yadav has been a devadasi for as long she remembers.

She lives alone in Igatpuri, about 100km from Mumbai, after her daughters were married off and her son refused to look after her.

"Now people do not respect the tradition of "jogwa" and we cannot work in other people's houses."

Jogwa is an age-old tradition where devadasis ask for alms on Tuesdays, Fridays, new moon days and full moon days and bless those who give them grains.

Another devadasi, Shalini Rithe, who lives in Mumbai, believes that the goddess takes or gives them the power to survive.

"In Mumbai where I live there are hardly any Marathi people. They do not even know this tradition. We are prepared to work as daily wage workers but there are no jobs for us."

Source : BBC

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Maharashtra may be headed for hung assembly

Maharashtra appears to be heading for a hung assembly. Leaders of the major parties — Congress, NCP, Shiv Sena and BJP — themselves
concede this in private.

The assessment of the intelligence department is also the same for October 13 vote. A senior Congress leader told TOI, ‘‘Our internal assessment reveals that the Congress-NCP combine will be short of the 145-seat mark by about 20 to 25 seats. We’ll have no choice but to turn to independents, and maybe Raj Thackeray’s MNS, to secure a workable majority. Our leader Narayan Rane has assured us that he will get Raj Thackeray to support our government in return for a few berths in the cabinet.’’

A source in the Shiv Sena said: ‘‘We are depending on the Third Front winners, the independents and farmers’ leader Raju Shetty to help us form the government. In fact, we have already opened a line of communication with potential supporters.’’

NCP spokesperson Gurunath Kulkarni insisted that the ruling alliance will secure a majority of its own, but many of his senior colleagues say that this is highly unlikely.

State BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde claimed that the saffron alliance will get about 150 seats, ‘‘since the anti-incumbency factor is strong and the heavy rains in several parts of the state will affect voter turnout’’. His reasoning was that in a situation where the turnout is low, cadre-based parties like the Shiv Sena and the BJP stand to gain since they are in a better position to mobilize committed voters.

But the feedback from the grassroots to the headquarters of all parties is that no coalition will secure a majority. There are several reasons for this. Not least among them is the inability of the Shiv Sena-BJP to adequately highlight the shortcomings of the ruling parties. Issues relating to inflation, power crisis, farmers’ suicides, and law and order could have provided the opposition with potent ammunition with which to attack the incumbents.

Shiv Sena chief executive Uddhav Thackeray, who has campaigned extensively in rural areas, was of a different view, however. He said, ‘‘These issues have been taken up in a big way by us. In fact, all my rallies have been hugely successful because I take up only these issues.’’ Senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde concurred. However, information from different parts of the state indicates that the opposition has not taken up these issues in a big way in the run-up to the polls, and the time available for campaigning is not adequate for parties to reach out to millions of voters.

But what appears to be the major reason for a possible hung assembly is the large number of rebels in the fray. The Congress and the NCP alone have to contend with about 85 rebels. Not all of them may be heavyweights like former minister Digvijay Khanvilkar, who is taking on Satej Patil of the Congress in Kolhapur. ‘‘But even if each of these rebels takes away 5,000 to 10,000 votes, then we will be in big trouble,’’ an MPCC office-bearer admitted.

Source : Times of India
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gopinath Munde tries to play down MNS threat

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) may have ruffled Shiv Sena but BJP national general secretary Gopinath Munde feels the 17-party
Republican Left Democratic Front (RLDF) would more than offset MNS damage by hurting Congress-NCP.

Mr Munde, BJP's campaign leader for the assembly polls, claimed on Monday that the Third Front would get 12-14% votes away from Congress-NCP as against a 4% dent in the BJP-Sena votes that the MNS was likely to make. However, Mr Munde’s optimism has overlooked the fact that MNS’ state-wide 4% vote has little bearing on its damage potential in the Mumbai-Thane-Pune belt, where it polled more than 20% votes in the recent Lok Sabha polls.

In addition, Congress-NCP was fighting a serious rebellion in the ranks with as many as 120 rebels in the fray against official nominees, Mr Munde said. He conceded that even the BJP-Sena too were facing rebellion but it was restricted to only 7 to 8 seats out of 288.

"The current political situation is comparable to the 1995 assembly polls in Maharashtra, when Congress lost because of large-scale rebellion. Rebellion will ensure that the transfer of votes from Congress to NCP or vice-versa will not take place," Mr Munde said.

In 1995, Sena-BJP had polled 29.5% votes, which gave them 133 seats, Mr Munde recalled. The saffron combine roped in Independents to form the government. Asked if a post-poll situation similar to that in 1995 would mean BJP-Sena may have to take support from Independents, Mr Munde said the alliance would get a clear majority.

He referred to elections held in other states during the last two-three years, pointing out that the electorate had voted against a hung assembly. "As many as eight states have showed this trend and here the performance has also mattered," he said.

The BJP leader argued that several factors would go against the 10-year-old Congress-NCP rule. Anti-incumbency, price rise, corruption, energy shortage, and a deplorable law and order situation were only some of them, he said. Mr Munde claimed Congress-NCP had failed to justify their return to power in the Lok Sabha elections five months back.

"Not even a point on the 100-day agenda outlined by the prime minister has been achieved. People gave them more seats in Maharashtra than BJP-Sena with some expectations but they have not fulfilled those expectations," Mr Munde said.

Mr Munde ridiculed the Congress-NCP manifesto accusing the combo of copying 13 agendas from the 21-point manifesto of BJP-Sena alliance. "If they can't think of something original even after ruling the state for ten years, why would the people trust them again," he asked. But keeping the manifesto season alive, Mr Munde promised BJP-Sena, if voted to power, would cut allocations already budgeted for different departments to find Rs 2,000 crore to fight drought.

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Pankaja munde parli maharashtra election 2009

Gopinath Munde's daughter Pankaja munde to contest assembly polls from Parli

Parli (Maharashtra): The announcement of candidature of BJP general secretary Gopinath Munde's daughter Pankaja along with that of cousin Poonam Mahajan has met with severe criticism that BJP too is going the Congress way in following dynastic politics.

Pankaja Munde-Palave, a business management graduate from Seton Hill University, New Jersey, is taking on Congress candidate TP Munde, a professor at the Baijnath college.A total of three members from the family of late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan and brother-in-law Munde are contesting the elections on BJP tickets.

Source : DNA.


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BJP win maharashtra assembly election

Can BJP win maharashtra assembly election. What are the BJP's chances in Maharashtra Assembly elections ?

The Congress-NCP alliance, buoyed by their performance in the Lok Sabha elections 2009 , has already declared itself the favourite in Maharashtra Assembly elections 2009 . Political analysts give them an upper hand too. Is the BJP-Shiv Sena on the back foot then? Can the BJP prove the pundits wrong in the Maharashtra elections 2009 predictions ? Ask Nitin Gadkari, the state BJP president.


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Varun gandhi to be kept off Maharashtra BJP campaign

Fearing a Muslim consolidation in favour of rival Congress-NCP alliance, the BJP leadership has decided to keep its controversial MP, Varun Gandhi off the election campaign for Maharashtra state assembly.

The move marks a reversal from 2004, when Varun was a "star" campaigner in the state polls, having addressed nearly as many rallies as top state leaders, the late Pramod Mahajan and Gopinath Munde.

For more , visit :
http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?a=jj0q59iagef&title=Varun_to_be_kept_off_Maharashtra_BJP_campaign

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Congress CM candidate Maharashtra assembly election 2009

Congress CM candidate for Maharashtra assembly election 2009 will be elected by elected MLAs after the results of Maharashtra assembly elections are declared said the senior Congress leader Digvijay singh.

Digvijay Singh, who was addressing reporters in his home town Raghogarh, said the situation of Congress and its alliance partners in the poll-bound states was good and the party will form its government after the polls.

Who Will Win Maharashtra assembly elections 2009 ?

Who will win the battle for Maharashtra next month? My best guess is that the Shiv Sena-BJP combine could win - or come close to it. Most elections are fought on the basis of several issues, but it is usually one factor that proves decisive.

In the recent Lok Sabha poll, the Congress-NCP combine won because of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's spoiler role. Moreover, the electorate sensed that the UPA had broadly delivered on its aam aadmi rhetoric, while the BJP was focused on the wrong issues and was led by someone who could not assert himself within his own party.

For more , please visit : http://www.dnaindia.com/opinion/column_tiger-tales_1294089

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Raj Thackeray is Jinnah of Maharashtra: Saamna

MUMBAI : In a scathing editorial, Shiv Sena's organ Saamna accused MNS chief Raj Thackeray of dividing Marathi votes to help Congress win maharashtra assemblt assembly elections 2009. Saamna described the MNS chief as Mohammad Ali Jinnah of Maharashtra.

"Jinnah and Muslin League divided India and got Pakistan in the name of religion. Partition led to wide spread violence and killing, and permanently wounded the Hindu psyche. Jinnah was propped up by the British. Congress party has now propped up a new Jinnah whose divide and rule game will help Congress win the elections. This new Jinnah is some one who is our own," Saamna said, without naming MNS Chief Raj Thackeray.

Pointing out that partition did not bring peace and prosperity to Pakistan and left Jinnah unhappy, Saamna warned Raj that his politics of dividing Marathi votes will not bring him any peace. "The Marathi manoos stands strongly united under Shiv Sena's flag and this solidarity cannot be ruptured," Saamna asserted.

The Sena morninger came down heavily on Congress for ignoring Marathis. "The Mumbai Congress is run by non-Marathis, such as Murli Deora, Gurudas Kamat and Kripa Shankar Singh. Congress can't find a Marathi leader to head the party in Mumbai. This shows what Congress thinks about Marathis," Saamna stated.

Refuting Saamna's allegation, MNS spokesperson Shirish Parkar told reporters that Balasaheb Thackeray has nothing to do with the editorial. "Saamna is run by Uddhav Thackeray and his caucus," he added.

Source :
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/india/Raj-Thackeray-is-Jinnah-of-Maharashtra-Saamna/articleshow/5074257.cms

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Raj thackeray, Uddhav thackeray speak about their poll agenda

Raj thackeray, Uddhav thackeray speak about their poll agenda

Two senas are fighting tooth and nail for the Marathi vote in the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections. Leaders of the two sena – Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena – are estranged Thackeray cousins Uddhav thackeray and Raj thackeray, who have ruled out any possibility of a reconciliation.

Will the sons-of-the-soil agenda help the two brothers or split the Marathi vote? CNN-IBN Editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai questions the Thackeray cousins in an exclusive interview.
Source :
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/exclusive-raj-uddhav-speak-about-their-poll-agenda/102399-37.html

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Will the polls change Maharashtra's fortunes?

Maharashtra. One of the 28 states of India. In literal translation, its name means 'Bigger or Greater Nation'. However, we are not here on the etymology of the name of India's second most populous state and the third largest in terms of size. There was a time in the 1960s, 70s and the 80s, when Maharashtra was indeed recognised for many attributes of greatness ― as a leader in industrialization, as a pioneer in the cooperative movement, as a high-performer in the quality of administration, etc. Its people could proudly say, with some justification, "Mera Maharashtra Mahan". Not any more.

Source : http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/sudheendrakulkarni/2374/53813/will-the-polls-change-maharashtras-fortunes.html

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