Congress writes to Uddhav seeking implementation of CMP

The Congress has urged chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to implement the common minimum programme (CMP) of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA)

The Congress has urged chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to implement the common minimum programme (CMP) of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA). In a letter, Nana Patole, president of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee, has demanded that welfare schemes for weaker sections like Dalits, other backward classes (OBCs), and the minorities be rolled out at the earliest.

Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Nana Patole. File Photo

The CMP, which was released in November 2019 when the Uddhav Thackeray-led government was formed, had promised loan waiver and assistance to farmers who suffer due to untimely rains and floods. It had also promised to fill the vacant posts in the state government, provide fellowships to educated unemployed youth, offer free education to girls from economically weaker background, construct working women hostels, ensure affordable healthcare, and raise the standard of education.

“There were problems before the state government [in implementing these promises] due to Covid-19 but the MVA government stood up to this challenge under the leadership of chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. Now, normalcy is being gradually restored and the economy is also coming back on track. Hence, the CMP and welfare schemes for Dalits, OBCs, and the minorities must be implemented,” Patole said.

Shiv Sena MLC and spokesperson Manisha Kayande said the MVA government was working as per the CMP. The Shiv Bhojan scheme, which was part of the CMP, had already been implemented and so far, eight crore people had taken full meals free of cost, she said. “Covid-19 has almost subsided. So, we will work on implementing points that are part of the CMP,” she added, while denying any rift within the MVA.

In December 2020, Congress president Sonia Gandhi had written to Thackeray asking him to fulfil promises that were made to the weaker sections.

Patole denied reports that a section of Congress legislators was upset with the party leadership in the state and had approached party president Gandhi for redressing their grievances. He charged the Bharatiya Janata Party with spreading such reports.