NCP’s growth not Congress’ responsibility, says Ashok Chavan

Former chief minister and state president of Congress Ashok Chavan said on Tuesday in Dhule that his party cannot be held responsible for the downfall of its ally.

Congress has slammed the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) for alleging that the former ensured its downfall in the last few years. Former chief minister and state president of Congress Ashok Chavan said on Tuesday in Dhule that his party cannot be held responsible for the downfall of its ally.

State Congress president Ashok Chavan replied to NCP’s allegations in Dhule on Tuesday. (HT File Photo)

“Growth and prosperity of NCP in the state cannot be the responsibility of our party,” Chavan said when asked for the reaction on the statement by NCP leader Praful Patel.

Patel, had said on Monday that the Congress was responsible for his party’s downfall in the state during the time both parties were in power in the state. While talking to the party workers in Akola on Monday, Patel had also lashed out at former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan holding his policies responsible for defaming the NCP. Non-issues were blown out of proportion projecting them as scams, he had remarked.

“In the five-year Congress-NCP rule, it was because of the Congress party that their workers, supporters and leaders suffered. The scams which are in the news today were not really the scams, but the conspiracies by the Congress leaders like Prithviraj Chavan to defame us. For Congress leaders, NCP was the first enemy and their focus was to put us down. They sank and took us down,” Patel had said. He also suggested that there would be no alliance between the two traditional partners in the forthcoming civic polls in Dhule.

Chavan then chose not to comment on the issue. “I am in Karad till September 15 and will talk to the media at length once I am back to Mumbai,” he said.

The infighting between the two parties holds significance ahead of the civic polls. Congress and NCP have the highest number of seats in local bodies in the state but political observers believe that the infighting between the two may lead to reduction in this number.