Nagpur: It appears that the Congress still does not have complete faith in its ally of 20 years, the NCP. While state Congress leaders have managed to establish extremely cordial relations with chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, the party is sceptical about the NCP and its chief, Sharad Pawar.
Two weeks into the Ma-ha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) regime, Congress leaders are saying that they find Mr Thackeray a very reasonable leader, but Mr Pawar has been playing a double game with the Congress and Sena since the beginning because of which the alliance is facing many hiccups. “We are confident that we will complete a full term under the leadership of Mr Thackeray despite our ideological differences. He is a very reasonable leader and accommodating of all-iance partners. But none of us has the same confidence about the NCP,” said a senior Congress leader on Sunday.
The MVA experiment had almost failed when NCP leader Ajit Pawar suddenly joined hands with the BJP and he, along with former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, took oath as deputy chief minister and chief minister respectively in the wee hours of November 23.
However, the NCP chief immediately distanced himself from his nephew’s actions.
“All we know that Ajit Pawar decided to support the BJP after 8.30 pm on November 22, President’s Rule in Maharashtra was revoked at 2 am and the new government was swo-rn in. These things did not happen without the appro-val of Prime Minister Nar-endra Modi. But it is also true that such a coup cannot be carried out ove-rnight. It was well planned, and therefore it was impossible that the senior Pawar was unaware of it,” the Congress leader said.
An MLC, who was previously associated with the NCP, also confirmed that Ajit Pawar had switched sides with the complete knowledge of his uncle.
“The BJP did not blame Ajit as the party knew that he was made the scapegoat,” the MLC added.
Another Congress leader, who has also worked in New Delhi, also alleged that the Sena’s first attempt to form the government on November 11 was thwarted by the none other than the NCP supremo.
However, state Congress chief Balasaheb Thorat denied the existences of any misgivings among the MVA constituents. He said, “The MVA government will complete its five-year term under the leadership of Mr Thackeray.”
