Patole’s broadside in opposition to the NCP additional strained their relations which have been fraught within the backdrop of the Congress’s eroding assist base vis-a-vis the NCP, with the latter carrying on with its bid to poach the grand outdated occasion’s leaders over the previous couple of months .
The present spherical of battle between the 2 allies appeared to have stemmed from a “personal slight” felt by Patole, who failed to make sure the Congress’s victory in his personal Gondia belt. It began within the wake of elections for the choice of the president and vice-president of Gondia and Bhandara Zilla Parishads.
In the 53-member Gondia Zilla Parishad, by which the BJP has 26 members, Congress 13, NCP 6, Janata ki Party 4, and Independents 2, the NCP’s native unit joined palms with the BJP to make sure the election of the saffron occasion’s Pankaj Rahangdale because the ZP president and the NCP’s Yashwant Gunvir as its vice-president. Rahangdale defeated the Congress’s Usha Mendhe, whereas Gunvir trounced Congress nominee Jitendra Katre.
Crying foul over the NCP’s “betrayal” after the ballot consequence, Patole charged that it has “stabbed Congress in the back”, including that the Congress central management might be apprised concerning the Sharad Pawar-led occasion’s “machinations of the last two-and” -a-half years” through the occasion’s Udaipur Chintan Shivir. He mentioned, “An enemy attacking openly from the front is better than a dishonest alliance between two parties.”
On its half, the NCP brushed apart the Gondia episode as a “local dispute”, with its minister and state unit president Jayant Patil calling Patole’s allegation “wrong”. Claiming that the NCP all the time needs that the three MVA allies ought to stay collectively, he mentioned, “There may be some problem among local NCP and Congress leaders due to differences in opinions. We will look into its details.”
Interestingly, Patole didn’t have any qualms concerning the Congress tying up with a BJP breakaway reality slightly than the NCP with a purpose to take management of the Bhandara ZP. The Congress, with 21 members, allied with the splinter BJP group, which have 6 members, to get its candidate elected because the Bhandara ZP president, with Patole trumping a Gondia-type NCP-BJP bid right here.
While these skirmishes between the Congress and the NCP have been dubbed native squabbles that may not have a bearing on their state-level alliance, there was a rising sense of fear within the Congress circles that the occasion has been steadily conceding its house to the NCP within the state.
Since its inception within the late Nineteen Nineties, the NCP has been increasing its footprint in Maharashtra. In the 1999 state Assembly elections by which the 2 events solid a post-poll alliance, the Congress bagged 75 seats and 89.37 lakh votes as in comparison with the NCP’s 53 seats and 74.25 lakh votes.
Since 1999 the Congress has been on a downward spiral within the state, successful 69 seats within the 2004 Assembly polls, 82 in 2009, 42 in 2014 and 44 in 2019. The NCP’s electoral trajectory has been comparatively higher because the occasion received 71 seats in 2004, 62 in 2009, 41 in 2014 and 54 in 2019.
As the Congress misplaced its standing as a senior companion of their alliance, the NCP continued with its statewide enlargement past the notion of being only a western Maharashtra-based occasion.
Since the formation of the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA authorities in 2019, the NCP has been aggressively poaching the Congress leaders. In January this 12 months, 28 Congress corporators from Malegaon joined the NCP. This got here after an ex-Congress MLA from Malegaon switched to the NCP. Similarly, in December 2020, 18 Congress corporators from Bhiwandi joined the NCP fold.
These defections have been projected by the NCP to have been attributable to native political elements, with the occasion claiming that it could not have any bearing on the bigger MVA alliance.
The NCP has additionally mentioned that no senior Congress chief barring Patole has gone after it over the Bhandara and Gondia developments, dismissing the state Congress chief’s barbs as his outburst after being outmanoeuvred on his personal turf.
Downplaying the Congress-NCP row, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar mentioned, “Nana’s assertion is ridiculous. You all know he joined the Congress after quitting the BJP (in 2018). So, ought to the BJP allege that he backstabbed it to affix the Congress?” He mentioned there might be variations among the many Congress and NCP leaders at district-levels, including that such conflicts wouldn’t erupt if there may be correct coordination among the many MVA parts.
Other senior MVA leaders additionally hoped that they’d have the ability to paper over the cracks within the ruling alliance.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
