Shiv Sena attends Opposition meet called by Congress chief
For the first time after it parted ways with its former ally Bharatiya Janata Party, the Shiv Sena on Friday attended a meeting with leaders of national Opposition parties, called by the interim chief of Congress party, Sonia Gandhi, through videoconferencing, in what is considered to be a significant development. Sena was represented by party chief and state chief minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray.
A Sena functionary said that Thackeray maintained a balance at the meeting, as he neither slammed the Centre nor spoke in favour of the Opposition parties. According to a senior Shiv Sena leader, the CM spoke about the state government’s plan to tackle the Covid-19 outbreak and he also took up the migrants’ issue.
“Uddhav ji spoke on the steps taken by the state to control the Covid-19 spread and on the issue of migrants and the inconvenience they faced with regards to transportation. Apart from this, he also spoke about retrieving the Goods and Services Tax (GST) refund,” the leader said. After presenting his points, Thackeray later excused himself citing prior engagements.
Earlier in January, the Sena had skipped the all-party meet called by Gandhi. But party leaders later clarified that it was due to a “miscommunication”. Two days later, Thackeray’s son and state tourism minister Aaditya, met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi.
Meanwhile Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, who had also participated in Friday’s meeting, said the Opposition parties are of the view that this is not the time for showing one-upmanship or indulging in politics for personal political gains. He said a collective endeavour is needed to bring India out of this crisis and that’s what the people of India demand for, he said. The Opposition parties have decided to appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to engage with all political parties, Pawar said. “We have decided to appeal to the @Pmoindia to immediately reach out to, and engage in a dialogue with all political parties in a systematic manner, listen seriously to the suggestions that we have to refrain from using the crisis for personal political gain, activate Parliamentary institutions like standing committees and be genuine in helping the states financially and otherwise,” Pawar tweeted.
He also said that steps need to be taken to restore inter-state road transport and for resumption of air and rail services.