No rift in Maha Vikas Agadhi, says Uddhav Thackeray in presence of Sharad Pawar

NASHIK: A day after Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar termed the state government’s move to hand over the probe of the Elgar Parishad case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) as improper, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday asserted that there was no rift whatsoever within the tri-party Maha Vikas Agadhi (MVA) government.
Thackeray, who shared the dais with Pawar at an agricultural award function at Jalgaon, said: “There is no problem between the alliance partners of this government. The central focus of the MVA government is to ameliorate the plight of the farming’ fraternity in the state”.
Speaking at another function in Muktainagar in Jalgaon on Saturday, which too was attended by Pawar, Thackeray dared the BJP to bring down the MVA government in the state.
“BJP has been claiming that our government will not last. I dare BJP to bring down the government. It will be unsuccessful as our government is strong and there is perfect understanding among the three alliance partners,” he said.
At a press conference in Kolhapur on Friday, Pawar had said that it was “not at all proper” for the state government to grant its consent to hand over the probe to NIA. Though-Pawar had said that it was the CM's prerogative to take the call, on Saturday, his party leader and state home minister Anil Deshmukh said that his office has sought legal opinion to know if a special investigation team (SIT) can still be formed to look into Pune police action in the Elgar case.
The developments have already fuelled speculations that all is not well within the MVA. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Madhav Bhandari said that by handing over the Elgar case to NIA, Thackeray has send a message to Pawar’s party that he will not succumb to its pressure.
On Saturday, both Thackeray and Pawar did not make a mention of the Elgar case in their speeches, which were focused on the farming-related issues. Thackeray said government is working out modalities to provide adequate water and power to the farmers.