The Asian Age

Congress’ ego is damaging India bloc: Sena-UBT

- PRASAD PATIL MUMBAI, DEC. 19

◗ AN EDITORIAL in Shiv Sena’s mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ said that the Congress was confident of its victory in Madhya Pradesh and that is why it did not enter into any agreement with the SP

The Uddhav Thackerayl­ed Shiv Sena UBT on Tuesday alleged that the Congress’s ego is damaging the INDIA alliance. Accusing the Congress of wanting to “eat victory cake alone”, the Shiv Sena UBT said that the party would not have lost the Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisga­rh and Rajasthan elections had it taken help of smaller parties. The Congress should learn the importance of alliances, it said.

An editorial published in Shiv Sena mouthpiece “Saamana” said that the Congress was confident of its victory in Madhya Pradesh and that is why it did not enter into any agreement with the Samajwadi Party. “Congress wanted to eat the victory cake alone. Therefore they kept smaller parties and alliances away. Akhilesh Yadav was systematic­ally shunned in Madhya Pradesh. Therefore there is an allegation against the Congress that wherever the party sees the possibilit­y of winning the election on its own, it doesn’t want to take anyone along. Its ego is also damaging the INDIA bloc,” it said.

The Uddhav Thackerayl­ed party said the morale of the workers of the INDIA bloc is down after the grand old party’s debacle in three states. It said that the results in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisga­rh and Rajasthan have affected the enthusiasm of the INDIA bloc.

“There is a notion that nobody can defeat Narendra Modi and Amit Shah and it is dangerous. Basically such a notion is not true. Leaders like Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarju­n Kharge worked hard for the victory. But had they fought elections in alliance with smaller parties, results would have been different. The Congress should understand the importance of alliance,” the editorial said.

Uddhav Thackeray had earlier said that the INDIA bloc has many options for the prime ministeria­l candidate, unlike the BJP which has no option for Mr Modi. However, his party has now changed its stand said that the INDIA bloc partners need to decide who will be its face for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Merely saying that we have multiple choices is not enough, it said.

 ?? — PRITAM BANDYOPADH­YAY ?? Congress president Mallikarju­n Kharge, party leader Rahul Gandhi, DMK’s T.R. Baalu and CPI leader D. Raja during a press conference after the INDIA bloc meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday.
— PRITAM BANDYOPADH­YAY Congress president Mallikarju­n Kharge, party leader Rahul Gandhi, DMK’s T.R. Baalu and CPI leader D. Raja during a press conference after the INDIA bloc meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday.

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