Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), an unholy alliance built on compromised moral values and tarnished political ideologies is seemingly heading towards its doomsday. Congress — the minority partner of the coalition is being meted the step-brotherly treatment by Shiv Sena and NCP and if political analysts are to be believed, the fissures have widened to a point where Congress could go solo in the upcoming BMC elections.
The domino effect started when the Shiv Sena termed the opposition at the Centre and Congress “weak and ineffective”. Reported by TFI, Shiv Sena’s leader and motormouth, Sanjay Raut had remarked last week that all anti-BJP parties should join the UPA. He had also said that NCP chief Sharad Pawar was capable of leading the UPA, currently headed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
The Sena mouthpiece Saamna, while criticizing BJP’s alleged indifference to the farmers’ protest, said it was disregarding the opposition because it was feeble and fragmented.
“An ineffective opposition is leading to the disintegration of democracy. Instead of blaming the government, the opposition party should introspect. There has to be a mass appeal to the opposition’s leadership… Rahul Gandhi individually is putting up a strong fight, but something is lacking… Even parties which are a part of UPA might not have taken the farmers’ protest seriously,”
Read: Is Sanjay Raut planning the ultimate coup against Uddhav with the backing of Sharad Pawar?
Mumbai Congress leaders, including the newly appointed city unit president Bhai Jagtap, has already made his intentions clear that he wants Congress to fight solo in the upcoming BMC elections. And if Congress contests solo, the Shiv Sena will lose some of the Dalit, migrants, and Muslim votes as well. After Shiv Sena, it is Congress that has considerable sway in the BMC.
Maharashtra CM Uddhhav Thackeray has called for the MVA alliance to fight the BMC elections as a group but with Raut’s statements, the proposition of anything happening remotely close it looks highly implausible.
The ostracization by the duo of NCP and Shiv Sena has left the Congress leadership in Maharashtra badly bruised. Vishwabandhu Rai, general secretary of the Mumbai Congress in Maharashtra, has questioned the behaviour of the Maha Vikas Aghadi and written a letter to Sonia Gandhi where he has complained that NCP and Shiv Sena are weakening congress.
“NCP is weakening the Congress party like termites. Congress party ministers are not getting any work of the organization at the grassroots level in the Maharashtra government. Party workers are not aware of the ministers’ department along with the general public.” said Rai who further added “Our allies are hurting our party by making strategies and are engaged in advancing their party. We have failed to stop this. There is no work being done on the promises made by the Congress party to the people of the state. Necessary steps should be taken to prevent migration from the party.”
The big leaders of Maharasthra Congress have also given a subtle message to Shiv Sena that it should keep its mouth shut, for it is not the part of UPA at the national level.
“Shiv Sena is yet to become a part of the UPA. Our alliance with the Sena in Maharashtra is based on a Common Minimum Programme (CMP) and limited to Maharashtra,” said senior Congress leader and state PWD Minister Ashok Chavan.
Those who have followed the crests and troughs of Indian politics for a minute would understand that Congress and its aristocratic Gandhi family loves nothing more than the sweet buzz of sitting on the top party positions. Therefore, when an outsider like Sanjay Raut makes such divisive remarks that directly undermines the authority of Sonia Gandhi, one can be certain of an appropriate response.
This is the same Congress party that threatened to throw out its G23 leaders who had written a dissenting letter to Sonia and Rahul Gandhi ahead of the CWC meeting, earlier this year. If Congress couldn’t gulp criticism from its own senior party members then it is certainly hard to expect it to cower in front of Raut’s statements.
Read more: Congress dissidents tear into Rahul Gandhi for his juvenile remarks on China and PM Modi
The MVA alliance was always destined to fail and the fall of the turbulent empire of Uddhav Thackeray has now begun. If Congress moves away, a giant killer like Sharad Pawar would not waste a heartbeat to snaffle up Shiv Sena and push both Uddhav and his party off the cliff, if it helps him usurp the power of the state.
