The results of the Kalyan-Dombivali civic elections have proved that the MNS turned out to be the proverbial Frankenstein’s monster for the Congress-NCP. Ironically, while the Shiv Sena’s tally of seats increased, the Congress, NCP and the BJP have all suffered major setbacks because of the MNS.

The Congress’ secular agenda does not seem to apply to its organisational elections, and the intense lobbying by senior Congress leaders for the post of Mumbai Congress president is yet another example. The leaders are now using the caste card to push for their preferred candidates.

Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray formally introduced his grandson Aditya Thackeray into politics at the Dussehra rally on Sunday by presenting him a sword. Aditya, however, had announced his entry much before that by demanding — and obtaining — the removal of Rohinton Mistry’s acclaimed novel Such a Long Journey from

Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray has demanded a ban on the burqa following a recent case of child stealing at a city hospital. “If the burqa is going to be used to steal children, we demand that it be banned,” he wrote Tuesday in an editorial in the Sena mouthpiece Saamna.

State Congress president Manikrao Thakre, who raked up an embarrassing controversy over the funding of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s rally at Sevagram in Wardha, heaved a sigh of relief on Friday when Mrs Gandhi thanked him for making the rally a big success.

Judicial custody of Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu and 74 others on Monday was extended by seven days and the Maharashtra government defiantly reiterated its stand to not allow the TDP leader to visit the Babhali barrage. Mr Naidu once again refused to avail of bail until he got a chance to visit the Babhali barrage.

The Telugu Desam Party chief and former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh Chandrababu Naidu and 65 of his supporters were sent to two days of magisterial custody on Sunday after they chose to be jailed rather than accepting bail. Mr Naidu was arrested in Dharmabad, Nanded on Friday after he attempted to visit the Babhali barrage irrigation project, violating propitiatory orders issued by the state government.

The Maharashtra government on Wednesday announced that it would challenge the Bombay high court’s verdict in the Khairlanji killings in the Supreme Court and push for capital punishment for six convicts.

Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan on Tuesday demanded that the disputed district of Belgaum be made a Union Territory until the border dispute between Maha-rashtra and Karnataka is resolved. Mr Chavan made the demand while replying to a discussion held in the Legislative Council on the border dispute.

The Congress-NCP government in the state has decided to counter-attack the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance on the Maharashtra-Karnataka border issue by pressing for BJP national president Nitin Gadkari’s participation in the all-party delegation to meet the Prime Minister.