Will remain part of MVA till end of tenure: Cong

NANA PATOLE SAID MVA IS NOT A PERMANENT ARRANGEMENT

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Congress on Sunday clarified that it will continue to be part of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition till the five-year tenure is completed. It also said that MVA is not a permanent arrangement.

The statement has come a day after chief minister (CM) and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray slammed the Congress over its stand of going solo in the upcoming elections in the state. Meanwhile, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) insisted that the three allies — Sena, NCP and Congress — are together and will contest polls as an alliance.

Addressing Sena’s 55th foundation day on Saturday, Thackeray had said, “If we do not offer solutions to people’s problems but only talk about going it alone in politics, people will beat us with footwear. They will not listen to our party-centric, ambitious talk of contesting elections alone.” Though he chose not to name anyone, the remarks made clear that he was not happy with the stand taken by the Congress state unit.

“The Congress will remain with Uddhav Thackeray for five years. The promise has been made by none other than Sonia Gandhiji,” Nana Patole, state Congress chief, told reporters in Pune.

He also said that Thackeray didn’t name any party and he would respond if that was cleared. “Uddhav Thackeray made that speech as Shiv Sena president and not as the CM. It is also unclear who he was addressing, as Sena (leaders) too talked about going alone in the polls. I would be able to respond to it only if that is clarified,” Patole said. Later in Mumbai, he also said that MVA was not forever. “MVA was formed to keep the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) out of power. It is not a permanent arrangement. All the parties have the right to get it strengthened.

Earlier this week, Patole had said his party would fight all the forthcoming elections alone and that the Congress would be the single-largest party in 2024 Assembly polls.

State NCP president Jayant Patil said, “Though the Congress president is making such statements, all the three parties are united and are expected to contest together in elections. Even if the Congress insists upon going solo, the Sena and NCP will face the situation together.”

The BJP has criticised the MVA partners saying the common factor between the three parties is corruption and greed for power. “They are not together because of the same ideology. The reason behind the MVA coalition is corruption and greed for being in power. Congress is upset as it is not getting equal share and now Uddhav Thackeray also is threatening the party,” said Madhav Bhandari, vice-president, state BJP unit.