Govt should have discussed with partners: Kharge

MUMBAI: Senior Congress leader and party’s Maharashtra in-charge Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday expressed dissatisfaction over chief minister and state coalition partner Uddhav Thackeray’s decision to hand over the Elgar Parishad case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

Kharge’s remarks come a day after Sharad Pawar, the Nationalist Congress Party chief—the third partner of state’s ruling Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government — said that the “Centre’s decision directing the NIA to take over Elgar Parishad case was unfair but the state government’s approval to that decision is more unfair.”

The NIA Act, passed hurriedly in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008, has provisions that give the Centre the powers to ask NIA to take over a case. “This isn’t fair. We are partners and such things should be discussed. You [Uddhav Thackeray] may have power, but one should use it judiciously. Our ministers are there, they will fight,” said Kharge. Maharashtra BJP leaders grabbed the opportunity to hit out at the ruling alliance, claiming there will be “midterm polls” in the state.

Speaking at the BJP’s twoday state executive meeting in Navi Mumbai, BJP’s Maharashtra unit chief Chandrakant Patil said, “We will not make any efforts to topple it, the government will come down on its own owing to infighting. We have begun preparations for midterm polls,” said Patil.

Thackeray, however, launched a counter-attack on BJP in the presence of Pawar as they attended two functions at Jalgaon in north Maharashtra.

Ridiculing the BJP over their alleged ‘Operation Lotus’ plan in Maharashtra, Thackeray said, “Why are you talking about toppling the MVA government tomorrow? I challenge you to pull it down today. Being the son of Balasaheb Thackeray, I like to take up challenges and have accepted this one,” he said at a farmers’ rally in Muktai Nagar, Jalgaon, where Pawar shared the stage with him.