New Delhi: The Congress on Saturday backed NCP leader Sharad Pawar’s suggestion to Uddhav Thackeray to accept the EC verdict on poll symbols and move on saying the former chief minister had no other option.
“Pawar is right. What else can Uddhav do? Irrespective of the EC decision, the Maha Vikas Aghadi is intact for now. We are planning to contest the coming local body polls together. A call on the 2024 Lok Sabha elections will be taken later on,” former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan told ETV Bharat.
The Congress veteran’s remarks came after NCP leader Sharad Pawar, who played a key role in the forging of the MVA in 2019, suggested to Uddhav Thackeray that he should accept the EC verdict and move on. The Sena Uddhav faction lost the battle for being the original party and its right to hold the “bow and arrow” poll symbol to the faction led by Eknath Shinde, who became chief minister with the help of BJP last year, on Friday.
Responding to the claims made by the Uddhav faction that he was the natural heir of the political legacy of Sena founder and his late father Balasaheb Thackeray, Chavan said that “any test of an emotional appeal would be held during the elections.” He acknowledged that if the Sena Uddhav faction gets weakened, the MVA too will be impacted but supported the former chief minister’s plans to challenge the EC order in the Supreme Court.
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“Of course, he will approach the Supreme Court but the legal proceedings may take a long time,” said Chavan. The EC decided on the basis of legislative strength and democratic functioning of the faction led by Uddhav Thackeray, the Congress veteran noted and added that the MVA was ready for the local body polls which are overdue and could be held any time now.
However, he did not commit if the MVA would be taken ahead to the 2024 national elections as well, indicating the Congress was also looking at its own revival in the western state which sends 48 members to the Lok Sabha. “The Congress has a strong base in Maharashtra. We have become a bit weak but we are trying to regain ground in the state. The Congress is not dependent on its allies. We are working on our own plans to regroup in the state,” Chavan said.
The former chief minister said that the Bharat Jodo Yatra had received a very good response in Maharashtra which indicated the people were ready to support the party both in the assembly and in the Lok Sabha. The former chief minister acknowledged there were problems in the state unit but refrained from commenting on them saying party chief Mallikarjun Kharge’s special envoy Ramesh Chennithala would look into the same and submit a report in due time.
The veteran said the Congress was preparing for the Plenary Session at Raipur from February 24 to 26 where important issues would be discussed and ways to address future challenges worked out.
