Pawar meets CM amid uncertainty over govt
MUMBAI: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar and his daughter and NCP MP Supriya Sule on Wednesday held talks with Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray amid a spiralling crisis plaguing the state government after powerful Sena leader Eknath Shinde rebelled against Thackeray’s leadership.
Earlier in the day, Congress leader Kamal Nath also spoke to Thackeray over the phone. Kamal Nath has been deputed by the Congress leadership to monitor the latest political developments in the state.
The NCP leaders held discussions with the chief minister at “Varsha”, his official residence in south Mumbai. It wasn’t immediately clear what the leaders discussed.
The meeting took place after Thackeray’s live webcast, in which he offered to quit as Maharashtra chief minister but asked the rebels if they were sure the state would get a “Sainik” as the CM after him.
The rebellion by Shinde, who has claimed the support of 46 MLAs, has pushed the two-anda-half-year old Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) governemnt to the brink. The Sena has 55 members in the 288member Maharashtra assembly.
Before holding discussions with Thackeray, senior Congress leader Kamal Nath said his party was united and its MLAs were “not for sale”. Nath was on Tuesday appointed as the AICC observer in Maharashtra in the wake of the political turmoil in the state. The Congress shares power in Maharashtra with the Shiv Sena and NCP.
Talking to reporters on his arrival at the Mumbai-based official residence of Maharashtra revenue minister and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Balasaheb Thorat, Nath said: “It is for the Shiv Sena to take care of its team and see how it wants to handle its MLAs.”
He said the Congress leaders were united.
“I am sure we will stay intact. It is for the Congress party to demonstrate unity. The Congress MLAs are not for sale,” the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister said.