State Congress objects to Sharad Pawar’s remark on Rahul Gandhi

Congress president Rahul Gandhi and NCP chief Sharad Pawar during a meeting after 2019 lok sabha election result at Pawar's residence in New Delhi. (File/Express Photo by Anil Sharma)

Objecting to NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s remarks that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi lacks consistency, Maharashtra Congress on Saturday warned Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition colleagues to refrain from commenting on Congress leaders in the interests of a “stable” government in the state.

The warning, by Yashomati Thakur, Minister for Women and Child Development and working president of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC), comes just days after the MVA government completed one year in office.

“Being a working president of MPCC, I must appeal to colleagues in MVA that if you want stable government in Maharashtra then stop commenting on leadership of Congress. Everybody should follow basic rules of coalition. Our leadership is very strong and stable. Formation of MVA is result of our strong belief in democratic values,” Thakur tweeted.

Recently, Pawar had said Rahul appears to lack the “consistency” needed to be accepted as a leader by the country. “There are some questions here. There seems to be less consistency,” Pawar said in an interview to Marathi newspaper Lokmat when asked if the people of the country were willing to accept Rahul’s leadership.

Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena MP and party’s chief spokesperson, said that Pawar’s comment on Rahul has nothing to do with the stability of the MVA government. “Whatever Pawar has said about Rahul, it has nothing to do with the stability of MVA government.

Pawar is a tall and experienced leader in politics. The opposition parties in the country also consider Pawar saheb their leader. So, when an experienced leader like him says something, it must be viewed as direction,” said Raut while speaking to a Marathi channel. However, NCP leader and Food and Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal downplayed Pawar’s comment saying that he might have responded to a question. “Pawar, Congress’s Sonia Gandhi and other leaders work together. If any question was posed to him, he might have answered it. It does not mean criticising or insulting someone,” said Bhujbal.

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