Top leaders of the opposition Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance met at the residence of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday and agreed to fight unitedly all upcoming elections in the western state.
The meeting, which came a day after the Congress swept the Karnataka assembly elections, was attended by Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, former chief minister and Congress leader Ashok Chavan, Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole, leader of opposition and NCP leader Ajit Pawar, state NCP chief Jayant Patil and Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, among others.
The state opposition leaders discussed the way forward for the alliance after the Karnataka results, its unity, the legal battle in the backdrop of the recent Supreme Court verdict on the political crisis and the contentious issue of sharing seats in Maharashtra. The alliance decided to relaunch its vajramooth (iron fist) rallies that have been suspended due to heatwaves, and said it would invite the Karnataka chief minister to inform the Maharashtra electorate about the Bharatiya Janata Party’s defeat in the recent assembly elections.
Read | After Karnataka poll results, MVA upbeat on upcoming elections in Pune, BJP cautious
“The three major parties and other smaller constituents of the MVA are elated after the Karnataka results, which were unprecedented and beyond expectations for the opposition,” Patil said after the meeting. “We have decided to fight all the upcoming polls together and provide a strong alternative in Maharashtra by building confidence among voters.”
The three major parties of the alliance decided to utilise the victory of the Congress in Karnataka to explain the shortcomings of the BJP. They also decided to explain the recent verdict of the top court on the political crisis in Maharashtra to the people.
“The BJP was defeated due to its corruption, use of central agencies against the opposition leaders, ignoring the plight of the people in the southern state,” Patil said. “We will take all these facts to the people of Maharashtra. We will also apprise the people here about the real meaning of the Supreme Court verdict.”
The leaders discussed how to take the legal and constitutional battle ahead after the court verdict given on Thursday. Although chief minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis have claimed it to be their victory, the apex court has questioned the manner in which this government was formed, Patole said .
“The verdict is in the favour of Shiv Sena led by Thackeray. The Supreme Court has established that the party is supreme and not its legislators. The Shinde-Fadnavis government is on ventilator, and it is counting its days,” he added. The Karnataka chief minister — yet to be decided by the Congress— will be requested to participate in the vajramooth rally to be held in Pune to speak about the opposition victory in the southern state, Patole said.
The Karnataka result was a victory for the opposition, Raut said. “The 40% corruption was the key issue in Karnataka elections,” he said, alleging: “It is 100% in the Shinde-Fadnavis government in Maharashtra.”
The three parties have also decided to inform the people about the Supreme Court verdict. “The remarks related to the then governor and his illegal act, the appointment of the whip by the speaker and the court remarks that Thackeray government would have been reinstalled are the points from the judgment that we will highlight,” a Congress leader said on condition of anonymity. “It will help us in proving our point that the BJP cunningly pulled down the MVA government.”
Pawar also insisted on a discussion over sharing seats, which is likely to be a contentious issue for the alliance. “In many constituencies, the Shiv Sena and Congress or NCP had fought against each other in previous elections. In such a scenario, amicable solutions and negotiations need to be arrived at with due discussion,” an NCP leader said, declining to be named.
The meeting was held in the backdrop of the recent differences between the constituents over various issues. Pawar’s remarks over Uddhav Thackeray’s leadership as chief minister, and Ajit Pawar taking a dig at Patole for quitting as assembly speaker without consulting MVA leaders in February 2020 had led to friction within the alliance.
“We do not have any differences among us. All the key leaders from three parties attended today’s meeting. The stories of the frictions among us are being spread by the BJP,” Patole said on Sunday.
Reacting to the MVA meeting, state BJP vice president Madhav Bhandari said: “If the MVA is thinking that the Karnataka results can be replicated in Maharashtra and elsewhere in the country, it is a foolish conclusion. We have also seen the infighting within the opposition alliance over the last few weeks.”
