Govt will last 5 yrs: CM Uddhav assures legislators of MVA

Maharashtra chief minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray, who heads a three-party coalition, on Monday assured legislators of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government

Maharashtra chief minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray, who heads a three-party coalition, on Monday assured legislators of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government that it will complete its five-year tenure. Thackeray held a meeting on the first day of the budget session of the state legislature.

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Amid speculation about the stability of his government, Thackeray told legislators that co-ordination between the leaderships of the three parties — Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress — was perfect and directed them to aggressively counter the Opposition’s attacks in the House.

“We have no differences [the leaderships of the three parties]. There is no doubt in our minds that the government will complete its five-year term,” Thackeray reportedly told legislators.

Besides Thackeray (Sena), deputy CM Ajit Pawar (NCP) and Maharashtra Congress chief Balasaheb Thorat, too, addressed legislators.

“The chief minister said he had discussed the contentious issues of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Population Register (NPR) with Congress president Sonia Gandhi during his visit to New Delhi. He said that her [Gandhi’s] concerns on certain issues are right. That’s why it was decided to constitute a committee of senior ministers from the three parties to discuss issues related to the implementation of CAA and NPR in Maharashtra. The issue will be tackled by arriving at a consensus,” said a Sena legislator, who was present at the meeting, but did not wish to be named.

A Congress member of the legislative Assembly (MLA), who was at the meeting, said the chief minister told them that the Opposition was trying to create confusion among people that the ruling parties were divided over CAA and NPR, but they should not fall prey to the propaganda.

Thackeray, who had supported the CAA and NPR after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, took a step back on Sunday and announced the formation of a committee of ministers from the three parties to discuss implementation of NPR. The announcement of the committee came after Congress and NCP expressed their reservations on the implementation of NPR in Maharashtra

Monday’s meeting was held to ensure better co-ordination between the MLAs and members of legislative council (MLCs) of the three parties as part of the floor management during the budget session.

Recently, there has been speculation about the stability of the three-party government, with senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders adding to this buzz.

Chandrakant Patil, BJP’s state chief, had said last week that the state will go to mid-term polls owing to the differences between the ruling parties. BJP MP Narayan Rane on Sunday said that the MVA government could topple in the next 11 days.

In the backdrop of these statements made by Opposition leaders, Thackeray assured ruling coalition members that the MVA government will complete its five-year term. The CM said that although the Opposition was trying to destabilise the government, there was no threat to it.

Pawar and Thackeray also issued a diktat that the three parties’ legislators must attend the House sessions regularly and should aggressively counter the Opposition attacks.

Thackeray also said in the meeting that although the three ruling parties follow different ideologies and aren’t expected to change them, they should not appear divided. “On some issues, the stances of three parties may differ at the state and national level, but it should not lead to a rift between them. The leaders of all three parties should restrain from making any contradictory statements. Legislators and leaders should not even indulge in one-upmanship that could portray the alliance in bad light,” a Congress MLA quoted Thackeray as having said.