Even as the Maharashtra unit of the Congress is being wracked with in-fighting between MPCC president Nana Patole and senior leader Balasaheb Thorat, crisis has started brewing within the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) with the Shiv Sena (UBT) mouthpiece Saamana making a frontal attack on Patole on Thursday.
In an editorial, Saamana accused Patole, a defector from the BJP, for the present crisis confronting the MVA. The editorial is significant as the newspaper is known to reflect the views of party leader Uddhav Thackeray on various issues.
What the article said about Nana Patole
“The most important reason for the downfall of MVA government was the abrupt resignation (in Feb 2021) by Patole from the Speaker’s post. The resignation given by Patole was an immature decision. The problems for the MVA government began then on, and have not ended thereafter. The position of Vidhan Sabha Speaker is an important and crucial one for an alliance government. Had Patole continued to be the Speaker, the problems that arose subsequently could well have been avoided. It would have been easy to disqualify those who left the party,” the newspaper, which has MP Sanjay Raut as its executive editor, said.
Patole-Thorat fight
The editorial further pointed out that while Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra received excellent response in several states, in Maharashtra the party unit was embroiled in deep internal dissensions. The Patole-Thorat fight should not escalate lest it benefits the BJP, it said. The paper asked what did Patole gain by targeting Thorat, whose entire family had done tremendous work for the Congress. Patole had suspended Thorat’s brother-in-law Sudhir Tambe and nephew Satyajit Tambe from the primary membership of the party for six years following their rebellion during the recent elections to the state legislative council from the Nashik graduates’ constituency.
MPCC hits back at Saamana
MPCC spokesperson Atul Londhe, who is a Patole loyalist, hit back stating that Saamana should not interfere in the internal affairs of his party. He pointed out that Patole had not resigned from the Speakership in a huff. “He had put in his papers as the Speaker at the behest of Sonia Gandhi who wanted to appoint him as president of the MPCC,” Londhe explained.
“The Shiv Sena should follow the coalition dharma and not poke its nose in intra-party affairs of the Congress, which is its partner in MVA,” he added. Stating reasons behind the humiliation felt by Thorat, Saamana backed him by saying that his work during MVA was to keep everyone together. Sources in the Shiv Sena (UBT) said the party cannot be a silent spectator when its alliance partner was facing a big crisis. They said if the intense tussle between Patole and Thorat was not resolved quickly by the Congress high command, it might result in a split in the Congress, which the MVA could ill afford at this stage when the ruling BJP was targeting several of its leaders through the Enforcement Directorate and other Central agencies.
“When the need is for unity, Patole is making matters worse for the MVA,” a Sena leader noted. However, Patole supporters noted that the Shiv Sena should first set its house in order before commenting on Congress’ affairs. “Chief minister Eknath Shinde is doing everything possible to politically neutralise the Uddhav Thackeray faction. They should do something about it rather than evincing interest in our party matters,” a Congress office-bearer noted.
MPCC slams Maha govt
Congress organisational in-charge for Maharashtra, HK Patil is expected to arrive in Mumbai where he will first meet Thorat to assuage his feelings and then confabulate with other senior leaders in a bid to paper over differences among them.
Meanwhile, the MPCC also slammed the state government for failing to prevent the attack on its legislator Pradnya Satav who was targeted on Wednesday at Hingoli.
