The echo of the growing differences within the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance in Maharashtra is seen reaching Delhi. All 44 Congress MLAs from the state are contemplating coming to Delhi to meet party chief Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi on the matter. According to a report in The Indian Express, there was a conflict between the Shiv Sena and the NCP, an ally of the Congress in the MVA. At the same time, as the third partner in the alliance, the party with the least number of seats, Congress, is also looking different.
A senior Congress minister said, “Shiv Sena and NCP clearly dominate the functioning of the government as well as outside. The Congress is being treated as a second class.” On Wednesday, Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole wrote a letter to CM Uddhav Thackeray, reminding him of the Common Minimum Program. However, he insisted that the coalition was “strong and the government stable”.
He again spoke of the need to implement the Common Minimum Program and said, “To keep the BJP out of power, a concerted approach by all like-minded secular parties led by the Congress is inevitable.” Patole was clearly referring to the recommendation of party supremo Sharad Pawar as the president of the UPA to fight the BJP in a resolution passed unanimously at the state NCP youth convention last week. The present UPA chief is Sonia Gandhi.
When asked whether Pawar had objected to the proposal, Maharashtra NCP youth wing working president Ravikant Varpe had said, “The party chief did not object to it, he did not say anything.”
Congress insiders conceded that this would also be one of the issues to be taken up by the MLAs with Sonia Gandhi. Congress’s chief spokesperson Atul Londhe said, “Congress is the only party which has acceptance across India. Sonia Gandhi is the most acceptable leader who is apt to lead the UPA. NCP president Pawar will also concur with Gandhi’s leadership.”