Congress MLAs not for sale; hope rebellious Sena MLAs will not taint the land of Shivaji Maharaj, says senior Congressman
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Mumbai: Following intra-party rebellion stoked by Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde, it has put the existence of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in jeopardy. Senior Congressman Kamal Nath on Wednesday stressed there was complete unity within the Maharashtra Congress while stating that both his party and the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) stood firmly behind the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA (of Sena, NCP and the Congress).
Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath, who was on Tuesday appointed as the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) observer in Maharashtra amid the political turmoil plaguing the State, further lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) politics of “bait and money power.”
Commenting upon Eknath Shinde’s rebellion which has rattled the MVA, the Congressman said: “Maharashtra is the land of Shivaji Maharaj. I am confident the rebellious Sena MLAs will not taint it.”
On reaching Mumbai, Kamal Nath took a meeting of Congress MLAs and later conferred with NCP chief Sharad Pawar at Mumbai’s Yashwantrao Chavan Centre.
He further remarked, “There is complete unity within the Maharashtra Congress. 41 of the 44 MLAs were present during my meeting with them. The others are en route. I have spoken with Uddhav Thackeray over phone and could not meet him personally as he has tested Covid-19 positive…I have assured him that the Congress will keep supporting the MVA.”
He said that the unity within the Maharashtra Congress would send a positive message in keeping with the country’s political culture and the party’s principles, while remarking that Congress MLAs were “not for sale”. Kamal Nath further disclosed, “I have spoken with Sharad Pawar. He, too, has said that the NCP fully supports the Thackeray government.”
While expressing hope that Uddhav Thackeray would strive to maintain unity within the Sena, Kamal Nath lambasted the BJP, remarking that its politics of inducement and money power was putting the country’s future in grave peril.
The former MP chief minister further remarked, “The BJP played the same tricks in Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Jharkhand. Their corrupt politics of luring MLAs from other parties by offering money and political inducements is playing with the principles of our Constitution. I am confident that under Uddhav Thackeray’s leadership, unity will prevail within the Sena.”
