Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday launched a direct attack on his cousin and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, when he called Raj a betrayer of the Marathi manoos.

Senior BJP leaders L.K. Advani, Arun Jaitley, Gopinath Munde and Rajnath Singh chose to skip the BJP convention held at Utan, near Mumbai. This was the first major event in Maharashtra after Mr Nitin Gadkari took over as party chief and the absence of most senior leaders brings into the forefront the massive friction and infighting that

Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari on Saturday inaugurated his party’s “National Convention on Good Governance” at Uttan near Mumbai. However, in his inaugural speech, he expressed concerns about bickering within the party.

Distancing the Shiv Sena from the BJP’s stand on the caste-based Census, Bal Thackeray on Thursday opposed it. However, ironically Mr Thackeray not only opposed the caste-based Census, but also went on to criticise the formation of lingual states in the country. The Sena supremo, whose party has survived over the last four decades as a champion of the “Marathi” cause was of the opinion that the linguistic divides caused fissures in the country.

Chief minister Ashok Chavan has supported state home minister Mr R.R. Patil’s statement that the Naxal movement is funded by local businessmen and the mining industry.

Senior Nationalist Congress Party leader Vasant Davkhare was elected unopposed to the legislative council thanks to the Shiv Sena.

The Shiv Sena, which is an ally of the National Democratic Front, on Wednesday criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party’s stand on the government formation in Jharkhand.

May 3: Delighted by the special court’s verdict that lone surviving Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab is guilty on all charges, state home minister R.R. Patil on Monday showered praises on the Mumbai police.