Congress tries to keep its flock together, expresses solidarity with Pawar

The Maharashtra Congress held a meeting of its legislative unit at Vidhan Bhavan on Tuesday in the presence of Patil. In the meeting, 39 of 45 MLAs were present

Mumbai: As the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is grappling with the crisis, Congress high command sent the party’s Maharashtra in charge H K Patil to Mumbai to express solidarity with NCP chief Sharad Pawar and also ensure that none of the party legislators has been roped in by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

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The Maharashtra Congress held a meeting of its legislative unit at Vidhan Bhavan on Tuesday in the presence of Patil. In the meeting, 39 of 45 MLAs were present.

Patil said after the meeting that the public sentiments are with the MVA. “BJP has orchestrated the split in NCP out of frustration, the same way they did with Shiv Sena. They might have broken Sena but the sympathy is still with Uddhav Thackeray. Similarly, Pawarsaheb who is a stalwart and most senior leader might have lost MLAs but has gained the sympathy and support of the people. The faction that broke away from the NCP will get disqualified soon and there will be elections in Maharashtra soon,” he said.

Soon after the meeting, a delegation of state unit chief Nana Patole, and legislative party leader Balasaheb Thorat met Pawar at YB Chavan centre and expressed their solidarity.

Thorat said after meeting Pawar that Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the alliance of three parties, will emerge stronger after the current crisis as the alliance has the support of the people. “The Congress stands united. Pawarsaheb is a senior leader and we seek guidance from him,” he said.

The party, which had staked a claim on the post of opposition leader in the lower house on Monday, differed from the demand. The party did not discuss the post of leader of the opposition as a gesture to give time to the NCP to settle from the crisis.

Patil said that they did not discuss the claim on the post of leader of the opposition. “It was not on our agenda today. The call on it will be taken by the high command,” he said.

Though the party had staked a claim on the post on Monday immediately after the split, Congress on Tuesday decided to go slow on it. “The announcement yesterday came in response to the announcement of Jitendra Awhad as the leader of the opposition by the Sharad Pawar-led party. We did not want to disturb our ally, but at the same time did not want to be projected as weak among party workers. The post will naturally come to us as the difference between them and us was just 8 and the number of leaders that were sworn in with Ajit Pawar is 9. The claim will be staked at the appropriate time,” a senior leader said.