Dismissing any suggestions of discontent between the three ‘Maha Vikas Aghadi’ partners, Shiv Sena spokesperson and MP Sanjay Raut said while there may be different viewpoints held by leaders in the Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress, the tripartite government was functioning smoothly.
Also read: No rift among MVA partners: Uddhav
He also quashed speculation of NCP chief Sharad Pawar ‘upset’ with the Sena, remarking that it was high time a full stop was put to talk of any ‘unease’ among the three coalition partners.
“Where does the question of dissatisfaction arise? The MVA has been doing good work consistently and there is proper coordination between the three parties. Whether the government is of one party, three parties or 32 parties like that of Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government, there could be different views among its constituent partners… But this does not indicate any serious rift within the coalition,” insisted Mr. Raut.
The Sena leader’s comments come in the wake of persistent speculation in political circles that the party was going soft on the BJP and that mutual dependence could cause a reunion of the two formerly estranged saffron parties.
Last week, the Sena mouthpiece Saamana, too, had hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for failing to provide effective leadership to his party and the UPA, while speaking of Mr. Modi and the BJP in grudgingly admiring tones.
Mr. Raut further said that views of Shiv Sena MLA from Tahane, Pratap Sarnaik and former Home Minister and senior NCP leader Anil Deshmukh — both of whom are under the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) — must be taken into account by the agencies during their probe.
“Anil Deshmukh’s view and Pratap Sarnak’s side has to be understood. By making allegations, the ED or central agencies are putting them in a fix. Allegations against both leaders have been made only by the BJP who themselves are not clean. The Chief Minister [Uddhav Thackeray] and Mr. Pawar will be soon discuss on this matter,” he said.
Mr. Sarnaik had recently thrown a letter bombshell in which he had openly urged Mr. Thackeray to consider re-alignment with Prime Minister which would give relief to leaders like himself and Sena Minister Anil Parab among others from the hounding of central agencies .