Strengthen Congress in Maharashtra, Sonia tells in charge Patil

Congress Maharashtra in charge HK Patil met party chief Sonia Gandhi on Friday amidst party MLAs alleging lack of coordination and non-availability of government funds for development activities in a meeting with the latter, writes ETV Bharat's Amit Agnihotri.

New Delhi: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi wants to keep the Maharashtra ruling alliance going but has asked the local unit to strengthen the party in the western state. “Soniaji’s message was to make more efforts to strengthen the party in the state,” the AICC in charge of Maharashtra HK Patil told ETV Bharat after meeting Sonia Gandhi on Friday.

The Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance came to power in Maharashtra in 2019. Since then, the Congress lawmakers have been complaining that they do not get proper funds and attention from Sena ministers. Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole has often asserted in the past that his party will win a majority of its own in the next assembly elections as well as in the polls for the Mumbai municipal body.

The Congress ministers recently held a meeting to discuss allocation of development funds. The issue is not new. In February, a Congress delegation led by Patil, Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat, PWD Minister and former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan and party’s state unit president Patole, had met the CM Uddhav Thackeray.

Not only that, there have been occasional rumblings within the Congress as well. On April 5, a delegation of 22 MLAs flagged issues such as lack of coordination and non-availability of government funds for development activities in a meeting with Sonia Gandhi and also complained against senior ministers Balasaheb Thorat and Ashok Chavan.

Patil played down reports of any rift in the ruling alliance or within the grand old party. “All the partners are committed to the ruling alliance. Sometimes small issues crop up due to lack of communication but they are taken care of by the chief minister,” he said.

The AICC in charge of Maharashtra cited the recent Kolhapur assembly by poll as an example of how the ruling coalition partners can work together to defeat the BJP. “Kolhapur is a model for the future,” said Patil. The AICC in charge of Maharashtra expressed concern over the recent communal overtones in the state politics and alleged that the BJP and Raj Thackeray’s MNS were working together.

“The BJP and MNS are working together. Using religion for political ends is a sin and abuse of religious sentiments. The state government is countering that,” said Patil, referring to the recent arrest of two BJP leaders over recital of prayers for Lord Hanuman in front of the chief minister’s residence.

“Vested interests are trying to communalize politics in the state but we will face them,” he added.