You are not spokesperson of Congress: Nana Patole to Sanjay Raut

NAGPUR: After NCP's Ajit Pawar, it is the turn of state Congress president Nana Patole to slam Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut for commenting on behalf of their parties.
Stating that Raut was not a "spokesperson of Congress", Patole on Wednesday warned him that they would not tolerate any insult to their national president Mallikarujun Kharge. He was responding to Raut's jibe against Kharge where he reportedly said that all the major decisions in the party were taken by former MP Rahul Gandhi.
"Kharge is our senior leader and he has a vast experience of managing the party's affairs. The Gandhi family has a history of sacrificing their lives for the nation and even for the prime minister's post. Therefore, he (Raut) should stop being a sycophant and stop from making comments on our leaders. In the same vein, can we say that all decisions in Shiv Sena (UBT) are being taken by Raut and not by Uddhav Thackeray," said Patole here on Wednesday.
While refuting speculations about his switching sides to the BJP, Pawar had blasted Raut for speaking on behalf of NCP and writing about its affairs in Shiv Sena's mouthpiece Saamna last week.
On Sharad Pawar's autobiography where he flayed Congress leaders for "showing arrogance" during the Maha Vikas Aghadi's (MVA) formation, Patole said his party had decided not to comment on senior leaders like the former NCP supremo. "We will comment at an appropriate time. The entire country had witnessed your (NCP's) role in the formation of the BJP government under then chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in 2014 and again during the early morning government under him in 2019 that barely lasted for 80 days."
Adding that Congress was never in the power play after the 2019 polls, the MPCC chief said the people had given them the mandate to sit in opposition. "It was senior Pawar who met our then president Sonia Gandhi and finalised a common minimum programme (CMP) to run the government. That time only, we had made it clear that we did not want the CM and deputy CM's post. She was the one who had stressed on granting loan waiver to the farmers and ensuring justice for all the communities," he said.