New Delhi: The Congress high command has taken note of tensions within the ruling Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance in Maharashtra and is trying to sort out the issues. Rahul Gandhi is expected to visit the western state soon to interact with the leaders and hammer out the differences.
The alliance, known as Maha Vikas Aghadi, came to power in 2019 after Sena parted ways with the BJP and has been in the news since then over internal bickering. The issue resurfaced when several Congress MLAs sought a meeting with party interim chief Sonia Gandhi. Congress insiders acknowledged there are coordination problems between the alliance partners but pointed out that no party wanted to break the coalition.
On their part, the Congress lawmakers have complained that they don’t get time from the Sena ministers and that their issues are not resolved. Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole has been regularly targeting the Sena and the NCP over some issue or other. He had even said Congress would fight the BMC elections alone, provoking NCP to point that every partner had the right to choose their path.
When asked about infighting or coalition problems, Patole told ETV Bharat, “There is no major problem as such. There are issues within BJP as well.” He confirmed that Rahul Gandhi was expected to visit the state next week. Congress lawmaker and former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan too played down the MLAs seeking a meeting with Sonia Gandhi. He said a group of 20 lawmakers was reaching Delhi to attend a training program organized by the Lok Sabha Secretariat on April 5 and 6.
“As the lawmakers would be in Delhi for training, they have sought an appointment with the party chief and may also meet Rahul Gandhi. This is normal as many of them haven’t met the top leadership since they got elected to the assembly,” Chavan told ETV Bharat. He said the visit of the MLAs and coordination issues were getting played up in public space.
Differences among the MLAs apart, the MPs from Shiv Sena, Congress, and Nationalist Congress Party will informally meet in Delhi on April 6 to forge a joint opinion on the alleged misuse of central agencies against state leaders. NCP leaders Nawab Malik and Anil Deshmukh are facing different cases and raids were conducted at the property of a close relative of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray recently.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar had recently flagged the need for the opposition parties to jointly take on the Centre over alleged misuse of probe agencies.
Also Read: Congress launches nationwide fuel price protests to boost public connect
