Ally NCP is backstabbing us, says Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole

NAGPUR: Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president Nana Patole has accused its long-time ally NCP of “backstabbing” by allying with BJP in Bhandara zilla parishad polls.
On Wednesday, TOI had reported how NCP joined hands with BJP in Bhandara in an unsuccessful bid to foil Congress’s plan of securing the ZP president and VP posts. Bhandara being Patole’s home district, many political pundits were expecting an outburst from the Sakoli MLA.
Patole tweeted, “NCP extends the hand of friendship and yet is backstabbing the Congress”. He used hashtags of Bhandara and Gondia ZP polls to leave no doubt about the context of his tweets.
Later in Mumbai while speaking to a TV news channel, Patole said, “Our Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) was formed to keep BJP out of power and we work on a common minimum programme. I, along with state presidents of NCP and Shiv Sena, had come to an agreement that local bodies should be in control of MVA constituents. Despite this, NCP went ahead to ally with BJP in Bhandara and Gondia.”
He added that this issue will be raised with the party high command. “I will be apprising my seniors about this. It will also be discussed in our chintan baithaks,” said Patole.
However, NCP tried to downplay the issue with state president Jayant Patil saying that there was no move to disturb the dynamics of MVA. In a media statement, Patil said this particular issue (Bhandara/Gondia) will have to be looked into before making any more comments. Patil said views of local leaders and why they chose to ally with BJP will be heard.
TOI tried to reach senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, but he did not respond to queries.
Another Shiv Sena leader from Nagpur said, “It’s probably best that we stay out of this because in this part of Vidarbha, we are the junior partners. Any official comments from local leaders may complicate things.”
An NCP leader from Nagpur said any political party will always first try to tie up with its ‘natural ally’. “Problem is that every stakeholder in an alliance must be ready to accommodate others. If Congress says that they won’t share key posts, just because their numbers are very high, is not right. This way, the junior partner in any alliance will always feel neglected,” said the leader.
Patole has been known to voice his opinion on NCP, and sometimes Sena, in such a way that it ruffles feathers. But with NCP snubbing Patole right in his home district, the friction is likely to increase.