Maharashtra Congress President Balasaheb Thorat called out at Shiv Sena for publishing an editorial in its mouthpiece - ‘Saamana’ - with incomplete information. Thorat, a cabinet minister in the Uddhav Thackeray government, said that the editorial sends out a wrong message about his party.
The editorial compared the Congress to an “old squeaking cot,” while responding to the allegations made by the Congress which stated that the party had not been consulted in key decision-making processes.
The editorial came after Thorat said that the party leaders would meet Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to speak of their grievances. He had said the Congress expects equal significance in decision-making in the government. The key Congress leaders allegedly held two meetings last week before making the statement.
Reacting to the editorial, Thorat said that they were meeting with the Chief Minister to discuss issues related to people and not bureaucracy. "Saamana should write another editorial," he said. This comes after Sena said that the issue of Chief Secretary Ajoy Mehta getting extensions could be up for discussion with the Chief Minister.
As per the Congress leaders, the discontent is over several issues. The party is against the third extension for chief secretary Ajoy Mehta after his term ends on June 30. The party wants the nominations to the Legislative Council from the Governor’s quota on an equal number of seats.
The discontent also stems out of the feeling that Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar is being given too much audience by Uddhav Thackeray. So far, twelve seats to the Council are vacant and are to be nominated by the Governor on the recommendation of the state government.
The editorial stated that the seats must be divided on the basis of the coalition partners’ strength in the Legislative Assembly. The Sena has 64 members, including eight independents, while the NCP and Congress have 54 and 44 members.
'Saamana', however, asserted that there is no threat to the coalition government. It further stated, “Nobody should remain under this illusion that there is a threat to the government and the gates of Raj Bhavan would open early in the morning once again for someone,” in a reference to the covert formation of the 80-hour government by the Bhartiya Janata Party with the help of NCP.
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