Nana Patole kicks up new row, irks all 3 Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi parties

Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole has once again kicked up a controversy by alleging that he was kept under surveillance by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and home minister Dilip Walse-Patil

Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole has once again kicked up a controversy by alleging that he was kept under surveillance by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and home minister Dilip Walse-Patil. He said that the reports about his movements and chats are monitored by the leaders from two other parties as they cannot swallow the fact that the Congress was growing rapidly. His remarks led to strong reactions from Congress’s alliance partners in Maharashtra and embarrassed other Congress leaders who chose to avoid reacting to it.

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While addressing party workers in Lonavla on Saturday, Patole said that Congress’s revival in Maharashtra was not going down well with other two ruling parties. He alleged that he was under kept under surveillance by Thackeray, deputy chief minister Pawar and home minister Walse-Patil. “They (CM,DCM and home minister) receive report from intelligence department at 9am every day. Who is protesting where, who is talking what and every update about us. They even know what I do daily,” he said. The remarks sparked unrest within the ruling Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) after the video clip of his speech went viral on Monday.

While Shiv Sena and NCP were irked by Patole’s remarks, other Congress leaders found it difficult to defend him. Deputy chief minister Pawar reportedly spoke to CM Thackeray over phone and expressed his anguish. He reportedly said that the remarks by Patole in the past five months since he took over as Maharashtra Congress chief have been creating cracks within the MVA. The DCM has believably demanded with the CM to take up the issue to senior leaders from the Congress.

A section of Congress leaders took up the matter with the party’s central leadership and complained that Patole’s comments are creating an unnecessary rift between Congress and its allies in the MVA. Senior Congress leader and leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and All India Congress Committee’s general secretary HK Patil were in Mumbai on Monday. State leaders have reportedly expressed their disapproval of Patole’s remarks.

“HK Patil is holding a review meeting with party’s senior leaders, ministers in MVA government and other party senior leaders on Tuesday morning. The issue is expected to come up again on during the meeting,” said a senior Congress leader.

NCP reacts sharply to Patole’s remarks

Minority affairs minister and NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said that the allegations by Patole have come out of ignorance. “A special cell of police keeps watch on the programmes, meetings, protests by all political parties and leaders and this happens under any government. The information thus collated goes to the home department. If Patole is unaware about it, he should take the information from former chief ministers from his party Ashok Chavan, Sushilkumar Shinde and Prithviraj Chavan. If Patole does not want police protection for the leaders and ministers from his party and police presence during political events, he should make an application to the home minister,” he said.

Patole’s remarks became public a day after NCP chief Sharad Pawar ridiculed the former, saying he was not a significant leader to take cognisance. Pawar said on Sunday that Patole was “a small leader whose comments do not warrant a response”. Pawar was reacting to Patole’s remarks on Saturday at Lonavla in the same meeting with the party workers. He had criticised Ajit Pawar for not releasing the funds for the bodies controlled by Congress and not giving nod to the works initiated by Congress. He had said that Shiv Sena and NCP “backstab” Congress when it comes to treating the party as a ruling partner.

Patole on Monday said that his remarks were blown out of proportion. “When I said that I was under constant watch, I was not referring to the state government. It was meant for the central government. Collating the report about the political leaders is a constant process and its done by state as well as central agencies. The information collected by the agencies is shared with the state and central governments. There is no rift within MVA and we are doing well as an alliance. The BJP is trying to divide us by spreading false rumours,” he said.

This not the first time that Patole stirred a controversy by his remarks. Last month, he publicly announced that his party would go solo in all the forthcoming elections including local bodies and Assembly. The remarks led to the strong reaction from NCP and Sena. CM Uddhav Thackeray later snubbed Congress for the announcement and said that it was not time to play politics when the pandemic was at its peak. The two parties are also upset over the way Patole resigned as Assembly speaker without taking them into confidence.

Sena leader and urban development department minister Eknath Shinde downplayed the issue and said that there were no differences between the ruling parties and the alliance government will complete its term.

BJP leader and leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis has reacted on Patole’s comment by saying that Sena and NCP are scared ever since Patole announced to go solo in the elections. “Patole’s announcement has sent shivers down their spine and it must have compelled them to keep the Congress leader under surveillance. However, the CM and DCM should clarify what made them keep Patole under watch,” he said.

(with inputs from Faisal Malik)