Mumbai: If NCP leader D h a r m r a o Baba Atram, allegedly involved in the killing of a chinkara, does not surrender before the forest authorities within a reasonable time, he will be declared an absconder.

"We have launched a massive search for him. If he does not surrender, he will be declared an absconder,'' a senior forest official told TOI.

Mumbai: Controversial former minister and senior NCP leader Dharmrao Baba Atram on Thursday got a minor relief from the high court against his likely arrest in the killing of a chinkara on June 14. According to reports, forest sleuths will not be able to arrest Atram till August 19, when the Pune sessions court takes up his anticipatory bail application for final hearing on August 19.

"The court has restrained the forest department from arresting Atram till August 19,'' Sachin Dhakephalkar, counsel for Atram told TOI.

The CPM has sought to distance itself from the Left-projected Prime Ministerial candidature of BSP leader Mayawati as a rallying point for a Third Front.

The indication came when CPM politburo member Brinda Karat walled persistent queries on the issue while interacting with media in Pune on Thursday night.

"We attach great value to the support of Mayawatiji extended during the trust vote floor test," she said, refusing to comment on whether the CPM would project the BSP leader as the Prime Ministerial candidate in the next elections.

Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government on Tuesday said that it is not correct to say that the Mumbai Municipal Commissioner has blamed only the migrants for the strain on civic infrastructure due to burgeoning population.

In a written reply to a query by a Sena member Sada Sarvankar in this regard, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said that the Municipal Commissioner did not make any such remark during a recent press conference.

PUNE: Defending the agitation initiated by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) against Pune's private educational institutions in the city, party chief Raj Thackeray on Sunday said that the agitation will be started anew once the colleges release the list of admitted students.

Speaking to media on Sunday, Thackeray questioned if the education barons are accountable and answerable to anyone? He said his agitation is an "attack" on their mindset.

PUNE: Ignoring an indirect suggestion made by city Congress MP Suresh Kalmadi about forging a tie-up between the Congress and the NCP in the Pune Municipal Corporation, Union agriculture minister and president of the Nationalist Congress Party Sharad Pawar on Sunday refrained from making any comments on the 'Pune pattern' which is on the boil.

PUNE: Taking advantage of the rift between the Nationalist Congress Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party that triggered the dismantling of the ‘Pune pattern’, Congress MP Suresh Kalamdi has made the first move to mend fences with the NCP to share power in the 144-member house of Pune Municipal Corporation.

Pune (PTI): An altercation between BJP and NCP workers on Friday night has put the 'Pune Pattern,' the exceptional coming together of BJP-NCP-Shiv Sena to rule Pune civic body, in a jeopardy.

Pune, July 9 The war of words between the leaders of the NCP and the BJP on Wednesday had its echo in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) corridors, as the city units of both parties -- which are jointly ruling the PMC -- took on each other over comments made on their leaders while reminding of the favour to go along with each other in the civic body.

Pune July 07 Slamming the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), state BJP leader Gopinath Munde today said his party would not allow any redevelopment of the land where Bajaj Auto is located. “The BJP will stand by workers of Bajaj Auto. Once we come to power, we will not allow any other use of the Bajaj Auto factory land,” he said amidst thunderous applause from the crowd.