Rahul Gandhi's comments raised questions about the coalition in Maharashtra.
Highlights
- He was seen distancing himself from reports of rift in ruling coalition
- Sharad Pawar's NCP and Shiv Sena have denied any divide
- NCP's Majeed Memon slams comment, says Congress part of cabinet
Rahul Gandhi's comment today served to further complicate matters as two top allies in the Maharashtra coalition denied talk of a rift spurred by a series of meetings. The Congress leader was seen to distance himself from reports of a rift between his party's Maharashtra allies - Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray of the Shiv Sena and NCP chief Sharad Pawar.
"I would like to make a differentiation here. We are supporting the government in Maharashtra, but we are not the key decision maker in Maharashtra. We are decision-makers in Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Puducherry. There is a difference between running the government and supporting it," Mr Gandhi said in response to media questions on Maharashtra's coronavirus crisis and possible disagreements within the ruling alliance on tackling it.
"I said very categorically that Maharashtra is an important state, Mumbai is the financial capital and there is a lot of attention, they have a difficult situation and lots of attention needs to be given to the state by the centre," said the Congress MP.
The Congress insisted that their leader's comments had been twisted out of context, but the clarification did little to tamp down coalition crisis rumours that the NCP and Shiv Sena had forcefully denied just hours ago.
In an attempt to paper over the cracks and project a united front, Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule, an NCP MP, said Mr Gandhi was "absolutely right".
"I've heard what Rahul Gandhi said. He's absolutely right. It's a coalition. Everyone takes a decision together. Uddhav Thackeray takes everyone into confidence. I've seen him first hand, he takes everyone along," she said, her comments also a subtle reminder that all three parties - Sena, NCP and Congress - had equal say in the coalition.
Ms Sule was more conciliatory than her colleague Majeed Memon, who said: "It's not right to say Congress is not part of the decision making process. Congress members are part of the Cabinet. They are not providing support from outside. They are in the cabinet and sign off on decisions made by the Maharashtra Government, which includes the Congress party."
The BJP, accused by the ruling parties of stirring trouble in its desperation to return to power, seized the former Congress chief's comments. "The statement of mistrust between two alliance partners by Rahul Gandhi is a bad joke with the people of Maharashtra," said BJP leader Shaina NC.
Signs of discord in the Maharashtra alliance were powered by Mr Pawar's meeting with Uddhav Thackeray last evening at the Sena leader's Mumbai home "Matoshree", hours after his talks with state Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.
Mr Pawar was said to be upset at the Chief Minister's reluctance to end the lockdown and actively explore his suggestions to reopen Maharashtra gradually and exit the indefinite shutdown in the state worst hit by the pandemic in the country.
"There is no threat to the Maharashtra government. All MLAs are with us, any attempt to break them at this time will result in the public beating us," Mr Pawar told NDTV.
Though the Congress was absent at Mr Pawar's meeting with the Chief Minister, he said all three coalition partners in Maharashtra were together and united in fighting the COVID threat.
The NCP leader also called his meeting with the Governor a "courtesy call". Mr Pawar has been openly critical of Mr Koshyari and has objected to his "intervention" in state matters.
Incidentally, the Governor had also asked to see Mr Thackeray but he had refused, sending his representative instead.
