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Tag: NCP

  • Development issues and not politics discussed in meeting with CM Uddhav: NCP chief Sharad Pawar

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: NCP president Sharad Pawar on Thursday said his recent meeting with Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray focused on how to expedite development programmes of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government and maintained nothing else should be deciphered from it.

    Talking to reporters here, Pawar said, “No politics was discussed. Our view is that some decisions need to be taken fast. My meeting with the Chief minister was to deliberate on how to expedite the state government’s development programmes. There was no political discussion.”

    The NCP leader, whose party is a key constituent in the Shiv Sena-led MVA government, had called on Thackeray here two days ago amid speculation in political circles about differences among the ruling coalition partners.

    The Congress is the third partner in the MVA, a coalition of parties which have different ideologies.

    The 80-year-old former Union agriculture minister refused to respond to questions on speculation that there was pressure on the NCP to withdraw from the MVA and that several firms belonging the Pawar family were being served notices by the ED.

    “This question is not relevant here,” he said.

    ALSO READ: MVA govt firmly in saddle, will respond to BJP’s ‘falsehood’, says Sena MP Sanjay Raut

    Pawar was talking to reporters here after a virtual inauguration of the DY Patil Agriculture University in Kolhapur.

    Asked about the election for the post of assembly speaker, Pawar said the MVA allies will discuss the candidate suggested by the Congress and take a decision.

    “When the MVA government was formed, the speaker’s post went to the Congress. Whichever candidate’s name the Congress gives, it should be finalised by all the allies after discussion,” the veteran politician said.

    The post fell vacant after Congress MLA Nana Patole resigned in February to take over as the party’s state unit president.

    Pawar said the Centre should hold talks with farmers from North India who are protesting against the new agriculture laws for the last seven months. 

    “The Centre should step up dialogue with them. Bringing political differences in the issue was wrong,” he added.

    The NCP leader said the Maharashtra government favours amendments in the three new farm laws enacted by the Centre last year before their implementation in the state.

    “A dialogue has begun in that direction. A cabinet sub-committee headed by Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat is looking into it. I am not sure whether amendments will be introduced in the two-day monsoon session of the state legislature beginning from Monday (July 5),” he said.

  • MVA govt firmly in saddle, will respond to BJP’s ‘falsehood’, says Sena MP Sanjay Raut

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Thursday said the BJP in Maharashtra was under the wrong impression that it can shake the state MVA government by levelling “false allegations” against legislators and ministers.

    The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA- comprising the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress) has “decided to fight back” and respond to such tactics to ensure stability in the state, Raut, who is in New Delhi, told a news channel.

    He said NCP president Sharad Pawar was like a “father figure” to Maharashtra Chief Minister and Sena head Uddhav Thackeray, amid speculation in state political circles over differences among the MVA allies.

    “Delhi has been dug up for the Central Vista project and traffic routes have been changed, but the BJP should know that the path of the Maharashtra government cannot be changed,” the Rajya Sabha member said.

    Notably, the state BJP unit recently wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah for a CBI investigation against Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Shiv Sena minister Anil Parab into the allegations levelled against them by dismissed Mumbai cop Sachin Waze.

    Referring to it, Raut said if the BJP feels it can destabilise and weaken the MVA with such tactics, “it is wrong”.

    “It is impossible to weaken the MVA by implicating legislators and ministers in false cases with the help of central investigating agencies,” the Shiv Sena’s chief spokesperson asserted.

    He said there are no problems among the MVA partners.

    “The MVA has become stronger after the one-on-one meeting of Uddhav Thackeray with Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said.

    Asked about the meeting between Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray held earlier this week, Raut said it has been decided to fight back all false allegations and respond to the charges (levelled by opposition).

    Likening the MVA allies to ‘Pandavas’ (characters of the epic Mahabharat), the Sena leader said “the Pandavas were guided by Lord Krishna and stood for the truth, while ‘Kauravas’ stood for falsehood and sought power by any means”.

    Asked if he was calling the opposition BJP as ‘Kauravas’, he said, “The Kauravas were a symbol (of falsehood). I am not referring to them as Kauravas.”

    When asked if he had come to Delhi to meet the Congress leadership, Raut replied, “I may meet, but all these meetings are invisible.”

    To a query on why Maharashtra Governor B S Koshyari has to remind the state government to hold the Assembly Speaker’s election, Raut quipped, “I wonder why Governor Koshyari forgets to sign the appointments of 12 members to the state Legislative Council (under the governor’s quota).”

    The MVA government and the governor have been at loggerheads over the appointment of members of the Legislative Council (MLCs), with the former accusing Koshyari of purposely sitting on the file cleared by the state Cabinet in November last year.

    In a letter dated June 24 this year, Koshyari asked CM Thackeray to extend the duration of the upcoming monsoon session of the state legislature and fill the post of the Assembly Speaker urgently, citing demands raised by a BJP delegation.

    In February this year, the then Speaker Nana Patole quit after he was appointed as the president of the Maharashtra Congress unit.

  • NCP fears summons a plot to trap Anil Deshmukh

    Express News Service
    MUMBAI:  With the ED asking former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh to appear before it on Tuesday for questioning in connection with the Rs 100-crore bribery allegation,  NCP leaders fear that this could be a “ploy” by the BJP to arrest the senior leader.

    This is the second time that the ED has summoned Deshmukh in the last 10 days in the money laundering case related to an alleged multi-crore bribery-cum-extortion racket, that led to his resignation in April. 

    Earlier Deshmukh had sought more time to appear before the central agency. Maharashtra NCP leaders alleged that the ED’s summons clearly showed the BJP was “misusing” central probe agencies to target opposition leaders.

    “BJP wants to set the wrong precedent by arresting the former home minister on false charges. This is nothing but the ploy to topple the Uddhav Thackeray government,” said a senior NCP minister. NCP chief Sharad Pawar said the ED notices are not new for the party. “We will continue to fight the legal battle. We are with Anil Deshmukh and expose the vendetta politics of the BJP.” 

    But, BJP state president Chandrakant Patil said the Aghadi leaders should not “malign” the image of central probe agencies which are “transparently” probing the case. “If Deshmukh has not done anything wrong, then he and his party leaders should not get afraid,” the BJP leader asserted. 

  • Opposition alliance at national level incomplete without Congress: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday said that work is on to bring all opposition parties together at the national level, and this alliance will be incomplete without the Congress. He said that the Congress will play an important role in the alliance that aims to provide a strong alternative to the present dispensation.

    Raut’s statements come four days after leaders of eight opposition parties, including Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, AAP, RLD and the Left, assembled at NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s residence in New Delhi and discussed various issues facing the country.

    Speculation has been rife that the agenda of the meeting, for which no Congress leader was present, was to discuss a possible alliance which could be an alternative to the BJP.

    Talking to reporters here, Raut said, “There is no need of the third front or any other front. Sharad Pawar has already made it clear. Similarly, Shiv Sena through (party mouthpiece) ‘Saamana’ has voiced similar sentiments. And I have also read that the Congress has endorsed this view.”

    “The Congress will play an important role in the alliance. It will be a strong alternative to the present dispensation…Work is in progress to bring all the opposition parties together, which will not be complete till the Congress is roped in,” he said.

    Sharad Pawar on Friday claimed that formation of any national alliance was not the topic of discussion at the meeting of eight opposition parties hosted by him, but also said that if any such coalition emerges, its leadership will have to be “collective”.

    A day after that meeting, Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole had said that any attempt to form an ‘anti-BJP front’ without his party will indirectly help the BJP. On Friday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids at former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh’s premises in Mumbai and Nagpur as part of a money-laundering probe against him.

    It also arrested Deshmukh’s two aides in this connection. Without naming the BJP, Raut said, “The ED action against Anil Deshmukh amounts to targeting political rivals out of frustration since they were unable to form the government in the state. Sharad Pawar has also said the same thing.”

    “The state investigation agencies can also probe important cases, but attempts are on to target NCP, Shiv Sena and Congress. We will also see,” Sena’s Rajya Sabha member said.

  • Leadership will have to be collective: Pawar on alliance of Opposition parties

    By PTI
    PUNE: NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Friday claimed that formation of any national alliance was not the topic of discussion at the meeting of eight opposition parties hosted by him earlier this week, but also said that if any such coalition emerges, its leadership will have to be “collective”.

    The aim of the meeting at his Delhi residence on Tuesday was to discuss how they can support the ongoing farmers’ agitation, he told reporters here.

    Speculation was rife that the agenda of the meeting, for which no Congress leader was present, was to discuss a possible alliance which could be an alternative to the BJP.

    “Currently, farmers are protesting on the borders of Delhi. The protest is apolitical, however, we thought as it is related to agriculture, in which way we can support them. The aim was to come together and discuss how we can help the farmers by raising the issues in Parliament and giving suggestions to the Centre,” Pawar said.

    The idea was to come out with a white paper and put forth the issues related to the farm sector before the Union government, the former Union agriculture minister said.

    Asked what would be the form of any future alliance against the BJP and what would be Congress’s place in it, Pawar said, “There was no discussion on this, however, in my view Congress will be needed to be taken along if any alternative alliance is to be formed.

    “I said the same thing at the meeting also,” Pawar said.

    Asked about the prime ministerial face of any such alliance with Congress on board, the NCP chief again maintained that there was no discussion on that issue.

    “But in my opinion, there has to be collective leadership. Keeping this in mind we will have to move ahead,” said Pawar, seen as the architect of the ruling Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress coalition in Maharashtra.

    Asked about the talk of him leading such alliance, the veteran leader said, “Sharad Pawar did all such things for several years, but now my role will be to help, offer guidance and make efforts to keep everybody united.”

    On Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with leaders from Jammu and Kashmir and the talk of holding elections there, Pawar said he welcomed the move.

    “When the decision to remove the special status of Kashmir (under Article 370) was taken, we had cautioned the government that it will have bad repercussions, but without paying heed to us, the decision was taken. It is good that now the government has finally come to the conclusion that the decision which was taken was not right,” he said.

    On Maharashtra Congress leaders’ statements about contesting future elections without alliance, Pawar said all parties have the right to expand their base.

    “To boost the morale of party workers, we all speak (in this way ). If Congress is trying to do the same, we welcome it, because it is their right and they should do it,” he said.

  • Congress’ stand of fighting polls solo will not last: Maharashtra NCP chief

    By PTI
    OSMANABAD: Congress’s stance that it will contest future elections in Maharashtra on its own will be short-lived and the ruling alliance will remain intact, state NCP chief Jayant Patil said here on Thursday.

    State Congress chief Nana Patole had recently caused a flutter in the ruling Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress combine by declaring that his party will contest elections on its own in future.

    Asked about Patole’s statement, Patil said, “That stand will not last long. Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena are sensible parties. They will stay united. But If Congress insists (that it will go it alone), then NCP and Shiv Sena will fight elections jointly,” he said.

    Patil was talking to reporters after visiting Tulajabhavani temple at Tuljapur.

    He also met NCP leaders from Tuljapur and Omerga constituencies.

    Patil, who handles the water resources ministry, also held a review meeting at the collector’s office here.

    Osmanabad and Beed districts will get water from the Krishna-Marathwada irrigation project by June 2023, he said.

    Permission for the second phase of the project was given in February 2021 with allocation of Rs 1,000 crore, the minister said.

  • Maha Vikas Aghadi govt distributes control of prestigious temple trusts among alliance partners

    Express News Service
    MUMBAI: The Maha Vikas Aghadi govt on Wednesday allocated the three prominent temple trust postings among the alliance partners. 

    The Siddhi Vinayak Temple Trust, Mumbai chairman post has been given to Shiv Sena while Shirdi Sai Baba Temple Trust chairman has given to NCP and Congress will get Vittal Rukhamai Temple Trust, Pandharpur chairman post and other three alliance partners will share the respective trust members.

    The NCP has appointed MLA Ashutosh Kale for the chairman post of Shirdi temple.  Earlier, the Congress and the NCP were vying for the chairman post of Shirdi temple trust, however, NCP finally got this prestigious post.

    During Congress and NCP regime, Shirdi trust was held by the Congress and for the first time, NCP will get this Rs 300-Rs 350 crores revenue-earning trust.

    While the Congress party has got another important temple trust – Vittal Rukhami Temple trust located in Pandharpur in Solapur district. There is a report that Congress MLA Praniti Shinde will likely be appointed as chairman of this Pandarpur trust.

    Shiv Sena has already appointed Marathi film actor Adesh Bhandekar as chairman of Siddhivinayak Trust, Mumbai. 

    The appointment of the chairman and members of these prestigious religious trust comes after the Bombay High Court directive to Shirdi trust on appointment the chairman within two weeks and had even asked to submit the report as well.

    After forming the government, the government generally allocates the co-operations and trust among the alliance partners. But it has been more than 19 months, Uddhav Thackeray has not done these appointments.

    The Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders also have to appoint the chairman of CIDCO, Mhada and other important bodies. “There is lots of confusion among us over allocations of these co-operations. We had several meetings over this issue but no meeting reached to the conclusion. We are still discussing various posts allocations but no decision yet,” said senior Congress minister requested anonymity.

  • Political front against BJP not possible without support of Muslims: Imtiaz Jaleel

    By PTI
    AURANGABAD: Any political front against the ruling BJP is not possible without the participation of Muslims, AIMIM leader Imtiaz Jaleel said here on Wednesday and took a swipe at NCP chief Sharad Pawar who hosted a meeting of Opposition leaders in Delhi the previous day.

    Addressing reporters, Jaleel said the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) will contest the upcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.

    “If an alliance is being formed against the Bhartiya Janta Party, it cannot materialise without Muslims. Muslims in the country are standing with the AIMIM. If Sharad Pawar thinks Muslims are with the NCP, he should come to Aurangabad and see how many Muslims are with him,” the Aurangabad MP said.

    He said the alliance of the NCP with the National Conference will not work out.

    Jaleel said the AIMIM will contest the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.

    “The BJP and the Samajwadi Party have finished Muslim leaderships in Uttar Pradesh. When Azam Khan was sent to jail, Muslim leaders left him. The decision on allying in Uttar Pradesh and the number of seats to be contested will be taken by AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi,” he said.

    Jaleel alleged that “Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal are two sides of the same coin” “Last time we thought that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) would speak for us (Muslims) but Delhi riots disclosed that Narendra Modi and Arvind Kejariwal are two sides of the same coin.

    People of Delhi know this,” he added.

    While talking about the local governing body elections in Aurangabad, Jaleel said the AIMIM was planning to contest from non-Muslim areas also.

    “Our rival Shiv Sena is also talking about an alliance while they claim the Aurangabad district as their fortress,” he added.

    Meanwhile, Jaleel alleged “misplaced priorities” on part of Central agencies in allotting infrastructure projects.

    “Central agencies are providing infrastructure projects where common people and public representatives in Aurangabad don’t want them.

    If flyovers are not built at the spots where people want, we will oppose the work,” he said.

    He said a flyover is proposed in the airport area though it is more needed at Akashwani or Amarpreet chowk.

    “Rather, Road Transport Minsiter Nitin Gadkari should grant us a flyover which would directly take vehicles out of the city on Aurangabad-Jalna road. This will help for industrial growth in the region,” the MP said.

  • Meeting at Pawar’s house: Apolitical exchange of views or a political mobilisation of anti-BJP forces?

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: A meeting of opposition leaders from many anti-BJP parties, all except the Left being regional forces, hosted by the veteran leader and NCP president Sharad Pawar on Tuesday is being seen by political pundits as a beginning of an exercise by them to join forces to put up a more cohesive challenge to the saffron party.

    The meeting participants were, however, at pains to downplay its political import, more so as such attempts of unity among regional parties have often come unstuck, and projected it as an interaction among “like-minded people” under the aegis of Yashwant Singh’s Rashtra Manch, an apolitical grouping with distinct anti-BJP views.

    However, no one can overlook the fact that it was hosted by Pawar at his residence and comes close on the heels of the astute politician’s recent meetings with political strategist Prashant Kishor, including one just a day before, political watchers feel.

    The meeting comes against the backdrop of the Trinamool Congress handing over a crushing defeat to the BJP in West Bengal in the recent spate of assembly polls.

    The BJP-led front also fared poorly in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, where the alliance led by the DMK and Left won respectively, and its main national rival Congress also showed no signs of revival in its fortunes as it lost to the BJP in Assam.

    It also failed to impress in Kerala.

    While several assembly polls are expected next year, including in key states like Uttar Pradesh and Punjab in the first few months, efforts to bring together regional forces and other non-BJP parties are mainly being seen as aimed at the next Lok Sabha elections in 2024.

    With the regional parties historically putting up a much better show than the Congress against the BJP since it stormed to power at the Centre, the view that they should challenge the Modi government in a more united voice at the national level has gained momentum in the recent past.

    Banerjee had written to leaders of 15 anti-BJP parties, including the Congress, seeking a more united fight against the saffron party in March, when she was busy fighting the assembly polls in her state.

    CPI-M’s Nilotpal Basu, who attended the meeting, said they discussed governance issues like Covid management, unemployment and an alleged attack on institutions by the BJP and downplayed its political significance.

    Besides Pawar, Basu and Sinha, a former BJP leader now TMC vice president, Ghanshyam Tiwari of Samajwadi Party, Jayant Chaudhary of RLD, Omar Abdullah of National Conference, Binoy Viswam of the CPI and Sushil Gupta of AAP, several members of civil society were part of the meeting.

    Even those who did not represent any political party, like famous lyricist Javed Akhtar and former diplomat K C Singh, are known for their critical views of the BJP.

    While invites were sent to some Congress leaders, none of them attended, a clear signal that the main opposition party does not want to be a part of the grouping spearheaded by regional parties.

    Congress leader Rahul Gandhi parried questions on opposition leaders holding the meeting and efforts to form a possible third front, saying today is not the time to discuss politics.

    Gandhi, who held a virtual press conference on the pandemic situation, said he wanted to focus on the COVID-19 situation and how to save the country from a potential third wave of the pandemic.

    LJP’s Chirag Paswan, who has been himself battling challenges from within his party, on the other hand, said “one can never say never” in terms of possibilities when he was asked whether he sees a role for himself in a grouping of various anti-BJP regional parties and Pawar seen to be working on it.

    He also said “friends” from the rival RJD-Congress alliance in Bihar have reached out to him for joining them but added that his priority is not an alliance but to deal with the political and legal battle with the rival faction on hand.

    Many prominent regional parties like Shiv Sena, DMK and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, which is in power in alliance with the Congress in Jharkhand, were not part of the meeting held at Pawar’s house.

    Previous experiments of regional parties to form a third or fourth front to challenge the Congress, when it ruled at the Centre, have been short-lived.

    Central governments headed by them in 1989, when the BJP had supported them, and then in 1996, when the Congress backed them to keep the BJP out, did not last for even two years.

  • NCP leaders discuss party’s future policies, role in 2024 Lok Sabha polls at its executive meeting

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The NCP held its national executive meeting on Tuesday and discussed the current national issues, the party’s future policies and its role in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

    The meeting was chaired by Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar and attended by party leaders Supriya Sule, Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare among others.

    The meeting, which was held at Pawar’s residence here, lasted for about two hours.

    The future goals of the party were discussed in detail at the meeting, Pawar said in a series of tweets in Marathi and English.

    “I had a detailed discussion with my committee members on our future policies, our role in the next Lok Sabha (polls) and current national issues,” he said.

    ALSO READ | Wider alliance of anti-BJP parties necessary: NCP leader after Sharad Pawar-Prashant Kishor meet

    Among various issues, the meeting also discussed the local body elections to be held in Mumbai next year, Patel said.

    “The party’s work was evaluated at the meeting, which also discussed the state elections to be held next year,” the Rajya Sabha MP told reporters.

    Pawar is scheduled to host a meeting of the leaders from several opposition parties and eminent personalities at his residence later in the day to discuss the current scenario in the country amid the speculation about the possible formation of a third front against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

    A senior NCP leader, meanwhile, said the meeting to be hosted by Pawar has been organised by Rashtra Manch convenor and Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Yashwant Sinha.

    “Sinha had approached Pawar in this connection and the NCP chief agreed to host the meeting.All the leaders participating in the meeting have been invited by the Rashtra Manch, not the NCP,” he said.

    “This meeting is highly overrated and speculative,” he added.