In the wake of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) split, the Congress on Tuesday held a marathon meeting in Delhi to discuss the party’s future course of action in Maharashtra. In the meeting, more than 30 leaders participated, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former chief Rahul Gandhi.
In the meeting, the party’s internal issues in the state unit were also discussed. The gathering that continued for more than four hours came amid a series of recent meetings held by Congress’s Maharashtra unit.
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The party leaders were told to leave their mobile phones outside, and strict instructions were issued to avoid divulging discussions of the meeting to the media.
For the past few years, Congress has been maintaining a low profile in the state and played second fiddle to its bigger partners — Shiv Sena (led by Uddhav Thackeray) and Sharad Pawar’s NCP.
“We will watch the situation as it evolves. It’s not clear whether Ajit has two-thirds of MLAs. If he doesn’t have, new sworn-in ministers need to be disqualified,” said a party leader who attended the Congress’s discussion on Maharashtra politics.
Some leaders are also said to have voiced reservations over the confusion about whether Ajit Pawar had been encouraged by NCP founder Sharad Pawar.
“The party leadership indicated that Congress will be in a wait-and-watch position as it did during the Shiv Sena split,” claimed a party source.
Sources have confirmed India Today that the Sharad Pawar faction has requested the Congress to refrain from taking any action as it (Sharad Pawar’s NCP) was hopeful of having a majority on its side.
Meanwhile, the Congress is said to be eyeing the leader of the opposition post in the state Assembly as it would be left with the most number of MLAs in Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in case the NCP splits.
The grand old party is looking to strengthen its base by utilising the void created by the NCP crisis as it senses an opportunity that could help it in winning its traditional vote bank.
The Maharashtra Congress has also been affected by an “internal power tussle” that came to the fore when Sunil Kedar and Vijay Wedattiwar raised issues about the style of functioning of state chief Nana Patole. There were several interventions by party president Kharge and Rahul Gandhi to contain the internal dispute.
“We know who are the assets and liabilities for the party, and we all should look at getting down to the ground and start political agitation,” Rahul Gandhi had said.
