Mumbai (Maharashtra): Nana Patole, the Maharashtra Congress chief on Wednesday while speaking to a regional news channel termed the Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar as the 'remote control' of the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government. It is known that the NCP which is the second largest party in the state-level political coalition (MVA) controls the three-party ruling alliance, while the Congress is the third partner.
"The meeting was for the state government and its coordination. It was not a party-level meeting. He (Pawar) is indeed the remote control of this MVA government. Pawar is considered the chief architect of the MVA which came to power in November 2019 under the stewardship of Chief Minister and Sena president Uddhav Thackeray," Patole said, when asked about why he wasn't invited to the NCP chief Sharad Pawar's residence. On Tuesday, a group of state Congress leaders had held a meeting with the NCP patriarch, the Maharashtra Congress chief added.
Read: Patole's statement exposes cracks in Maha Vikas Agadhi
Earlier, Patole speaking to the media, had lambasted the Sharad Pawar led NCP with reference to the 2014 assembly polls in Maharashtra, recalling that his party was cheated 7-years ago and it is now gearing up for the 2024 general elections bearing that in mind. The Maharashtra Congress chief by all accounts was referring to the NCP's decision to contest the 2014 assembly elections separately. "The Congress has gone through such cheating. We want to ensure that in the next major election, we will not face such a situation again," said the former Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.
The 58-yr old former member of the Lok Sabha recently stoked a controversy by saying that "he was being watched", while affirming that the Shiv Sena and the NCP were feeling the heat of his party's growing influence. Following his remarks having kicked up a political storm in the state, the Congress leader on Monday stated that misinformation was being spread through media and that there was no dispute amongst the allies of the MVA Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
For those unversed, the term 'Remote control' is used to emphasize a person's influence over the ruling government sans holding any constitutional post. The term was initially used in Maharashtra in reference to Sena founder late Bal Thackeray during 1995-99 when the Shiv Sena-BJP combine was in power.
