Govt will last 5 yrs: CM Uddhav assures legislators of MVA

MUMBAI: Maharashtra chief minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray, who heads a three-party coalition, on Monday assured legislators of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government that it will complete its five-year tenure. Thackeray held a meeting on the first day of the budget session of the state legislature.

Amid speculation about the stability of his government, Thackeray told legislators that co-ordination between the leaderships of the three parties — Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress — was perfect and directed them to aggressively counter the Opposition’s attacks in the House.

“We have no differences [the leaderships of the three parties]. There is no doubt in our minds that the government will complete its five-year term,” Thackeray reportedly told legislators.

Besides Thackeray (Sena), deputy CM Ajit Pawar (NCP) and Maharashtra Congress chief Balasaheb Thorat, too, addressed legislators.

“The chief minister said he had discussed the contentious issues of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Population Register (NPR) with Congress president Sonia Gandhi during his visit to New Delhi. He said that her [Gandhi’s] concerns on certain issues are right. That’s why it was decided to constitute a committee of senior ministers from the three parties to discuss issues related to the implementation of CAA and NPR in Maharashtra. The issue will be tackled by arriving at a consensus,” said a Sena legislator, who was present at the meeting, but did not wish to be named.

A Congress member of the legislative Assembly (MLA), who was at the meeting, said the chief minister told them that the Opposition was trying to create confusion among people that the ruling parties were divided over CAA and NPR, but they should not fall prey to the propaganda.