The Shiv Sena (UBT) on Monday criticized Congress’s attitude towards its alliance partners in Maharashtra, saying it must keep them together if it wants to return to power at the Centre.
An editorial in the party’s mouthpiece, Saamana, termed the Congress’ stance of distancing itself from its Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) partners on some issues as narrow-minded. An exception has been made for Maharashtra Congress chief Harshvardhan Sapkal who expressed reservations about supporting the Nationalist Congress Party – Sharadchandra Pawar or NCP – to the Shiv Sena’s (UBT) demand for a seat in the legislative council.
The criticism came against the backdrop of the Shiv Sena (UBT) abandoning its claim to the only Rajya Sabha seat from Maharashtra which the MVA was certain to win. The Shiv Sena (UBT) then staked its only seat in the legislative assembly that the alliance would contest in April on party chief and former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.
The editorial said that Rahul Gandhi should be congratulated for handing over the leadership of the Congress Party in Maharashtra to a capable leader, and for his ambition to reach the top. “But if his position is that his party will reach the top only with a seat in the Legislative Council or the Rajya Sabha, they will have to reconsider their goal,” the editorial said. “It will be an obstacle to achieving the larger goal. If the desire to win power at the center is serious, a strong alliance in the state is the only option.”
The editorial said that reasonable cooperation is not weakness but political maturity. “Only if the Congress shows this maturity, regional parties across the country, including Maharashtra, will look at it with confidence.”
The Shiv Sena (UBT) advised the Congress to respect regional allies. “Congress must send a message that we, as a national party, respect regional parties and come together to think about the future of the country. What is the point of focusing on one seat in the Legislative Council or the Rajya Sabha?”
The editorial blamed Congress’ sudden decision to resign by the then Assembly Speaker, Nana Patole, when the MVA government was in power. She said it led to the overthrow of the government through defections.
Congress leader Sachin Sawant asked the Shiv Sena (UBT) to reflect instead of blaming others. “In an alliance, there should be a discussion before announcing anything. The Shiv Sena (UBT) has expressed its views and then expects us to support it. In Chandrapur and BMC [Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation] Elections, they did the same thing. Otherwise the MVA would have been in power in both civic bodies.
MVA voters were initially divided over which coalition partner would nominate a candidate for the Rajya Sabha seat from Maharashtra. The Shiv Sena (UBT) insisted on claiming the seat as it has the highest number of legislators (20) among the MVA partners (20) before supporting the nomination of NCP-SP president Sharad Pawar for the upper house of Parliament. The Sena (UBT) has sought to return the favor as Uddhav Thackeray’s term ends on May 13, and the party wants to renominate him.
