Rahul Gandhi at Chintan Shivir.Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s recent statement on regional parties has not gone down well with its ally partners in the state’s ruling Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government with leaders of both the Shiv Sena and the NCP expressing their disapproval and stating that the Parliamentarian should worry about revival of his own party instead.
On the last day of the party’s Chintan Shivir in Udaipur on Sunday, the former Congress president had said that his party alone can fight the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as “regional parties neither have an ideology nor a centralised approach”.
Sena spokesperson and Member of Legislative Council (MLC) Manisha Kayande said, “Rahul Gandhi must not bother about regional parties. He must bother about revival of his own party and boost enthusiasm (of its cadre). The Shiv Sena and the NCP are together with the Congress in Maharashtra. The Congress is in alliance with regional parties in many states. Rahul Gandhi needs to be serious on how he needs to run his party.”
Sachin Ahir, deputy leader of the Sena, said, “UPA-1 and UPA-2 had to be formed as regional parties were needed by the Congress. This trend will continue in the future as well. Regional parties can’t be ignored.’’
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NCP’s chief spokesperson Mahesh Tapase said, “In West Bengal, (TMC chief and CM) Mamata Banerjee has single-handedly kept the BJP away. In Maharashtra, the NCP and the Sena along with the Congress have kept the BJP away. In modern age, regional parties have become strong. One single can party can’t keep the BJP away, it will have to take regional parties along.”
NCP former MP Majeed Memon said, “Rahul’s statement to the effect that the Congress is the oldest political party is factually true. The Congress had liberated India from British rule. But the position of the Congress since 2014 is a matter of serious concern. It has only two states under its rule. Rahul must be aware that other than the Congress, there are other non-BJP political parties which are recognised as national political parties and they have an ideology which is totally hostile to the BJP-RSS mindset.”
Earlier, soon after the Chintan Shivir, state Congress chief Nana Patole alleged that there was a plan in the MVA government “to finish the Congress and give benefits of the power to BJP”.
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