Congress leaders Balasaheb Thorat and Ashok Chavan on Thursday finally met Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to discuss the grievances regarding issues concerning the former’s party. Congress is an ally in the three-party Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition government in the state.
Earlier, senior Congress leaders had openly expressed displeasure over not being involved in the decision-making process among other issues. Some have even alleged that Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and Thackeray are taking decisions without taking Congress ministers into confidence.
The Congress leaders were scheduled to meet Thackeray on Monday. However, the meeting was pushed after the news of Thackeray’s father-in-laws' demise. The meeting couldn’t happen on Tuesday as well.
However, Thackeray’s close aide Shiv Sena MLA Anil Desai met Thorat at the latter’s residence and listened to the concerns put forward by the Congress leader. Thorat informed that Desai was briefed about the issues his party has been raising.
On Thursday, Thackeray met the Congress leaders at ‘Matoshree’ bungalow which is Thackeray’s personal residence in Bandra. Thorat, who is the Revenue Minister in Thackeray’s cabinet, discussed the need to help poor amid coronavirus outbreak and implement Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY) scheme in Maharashtra which was first proposed by Rahul Gandhi during 2019 Lok Sabha election campaign.
The issues pertain to Congress ministers not being taken into confidence in the decision-making process along with the distribution of legislative council seats and troubles with the bureaucracy.
In an editorial published in ‘Saamana’, Shiv Sena compared its ally with an old cot who yawps now and then. The seats must be divided on the basis of the coalition partners’ strength in the Legislative Assembly, it said. Sena has 64 members, including eight independents, while the NCP and Congress have 54 and 44 members.
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