Sulking Congress ministers, who had met on Thursday to discuss the lack of sufficient representation given in the government functioning, will meet Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday to argue their case. Revenue Minister and Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee President Balsaheb Thorat, who spoke to Thackeray on Friday, along with Public Works Minister Ashok Chavan will meet the Chief Minister to seek adequate stakes for them in the decision making process.
Thorat who is on a two visit to the Cyclone Nisarga affected Raigad district, confirmed that he and Chavan will meet Thackeray on Monday. ‘’Generally you will find differences among three brothers. Maha Vikas Aghadi Government is a coalition government of three parties. So, it is but natural there will be differences among the three and in such an arrangement each party has every right to air their views. We will resolve all these issues after Monday’s meeting with the Chief Minister,’’ he noted.
As reported by FPJ, the Congress ministers had met on Thursday at the residence of Dairy Development Minister, Sunil Kedar and held marathon discussion on how they and the Congress party in general were completely side-lined by Thackeray in the decision making. They had also cited the dominance of Thackeray led Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar led Nationalist Congress Party in the government functioning and decision making.
Thorat after the meeting had said that the Congress party and the ministers despite their past experience and administrative abilities are neglected in decision making. Congress ministers had cited a few examples including the announcement made by Thackeray for immediate assistance to cyclone ravaged Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts, slew of relaxations announced in lockdown 5.0 and assistance given to the construction workers.
Congress ministers were also unhappy over the manner in which Shiv Sena and NCP got two seats each leaving just one seat for the party in the recently held Maharashtra Legislative Council poll. All nine candidates including five of Maha Vikas Aghadi were elected unopposed as Congress after talks with Thackeray withdrew its second nominee.
A senior minister said, ‘’Thorat and Chavan will take up the issue of Congress getting equal representation in the nomination to the legislative council from the Governor quota. Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena should get four each for nomination of 12 members as the seats fell vacant recently after the term of previous members ended.’’
Congress Minister’s move to openly express their displeasure has exposed cracks within the Thackeray led MVA government. Their move comes days after Congress MP Rahul Gandhi had said that the party was not a decision maker but in a supporting role in Maharashtra. It led to a major controversy but later Gandhi spoke to Thackeray and his son Aaditya Thackeray, who is the Tourism Minister, to convey his party’s total support. Thereafter, Thorat claimed that Gandhi’s statement was twisted and said that all the three parties are firm in the saddle.
Earlier, former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan had also said that the Congress party has no major role in decision making. Further, he had stated that bureaucrats were working during the present coronavirus crisis but ‘’political leadership’’ was absent.
