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Tag: NCP

  • Anti-BJP front not possible without Congress, says Maharashtra unit chief

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Any anti-BJP front is not possible without the Congress, Maharashtra state party president Nana Patole said on Monday even as he extended his “best” wishes for a likely “Shiv Sena-NCP alliance” for the 2024 elections.

    “If an alliance between the Shiv Sena and the NCP is in the offing for the 2024 polls, we extend our best wishes. But an anti-BJP front cannot materialize without the Congress,” he told reporters.

    Patole was responding to a query on the likely tie-up between the Sena and the NCP if Congress decides to go solo in the 2024 elections.

    All these three parties are constituents in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) which came to power in November 2019 with Sena president Uddhav Thackeray as the chief minister.

    Patole had recently caused a flutter saying the Congress will contest future elections on its own.

    In a veiled jibe at the Congress, CM Thackeray on Saturday said that people would “beat with footwear” those who only talk about contesting elections alone without offering solutions to people’s problems.

    On Sunday, Patole clarified the Congress will stand strong with the CM with all its might until the government completes its full five-year term.

    Earlier on Monday, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said the coordination among the allies of the MVA was a model example of how a coalition government should function.

    Meanwhile, reacting to Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik’s letter to CM Thackeray suggesting “reconciliation” with the BJP to save some leaders of the Sena, including him, from “harassment by Central investigating agencies,” Patole said the BJP has been using these agencies to target and destabilize governments headed by opposition parties since the last 18 months.

    “But this strategy won’t work in Maharashtra. We are standing firm with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. This government will not succumb to any pressure,” he said.

  • Sharad Pawar calls Opposition meet amid talks of anti-BJP alliance for 2024 polls

    By Agencies
    NEW DELHI: In a major initiative, NCP president Sharad Pawar will, from Tuesday, kick-start opposition unity efforts ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, a top party official announced on Monday.

    NCP sational spokesperson and Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik said that in the first round, Pawar will meet leaders of a few political major parties, media persons, lawyers, social ativists, retired judges and bureaucrats, analysts, and other prominent experts from different fields at his New Delhi home on Tuesday morning.

    The political leaders would include Yashwant Sinha of the Trinamool Congress, Sanjay Singh of the Aam Aadmi Party, Farooq Abdullah of the National Conference, D. Raja of the CPI, former JD-U leader Pawan Verma, and others.

    Besides, he will also meet prominent personalities like Justice AP Singh (retd), Javed Akhtar, K.T.S. Tulsi, Karan Thapar, Ashutosh, A. Majeed Memon, Vandana Chavan,  SY Qureshi, KC Singh, Sanjay Jha, Sudheendra Kulkarni, Colin Gonsalves, Ghanshyam Tiwari, and Pritish Nandy.

    However, the NCP has not indicated whether its allies in Maharashtra’s Maha Vikas Aghadi government — Shiv Sena and Congress, which are currently in a friction mode — would attend Tuesday’s Opposition parties gathering or not.

    ALSO READ |  Prashant Kishor, Sharad Pawar meet for second time in two weeks

    “They (Pawar and the leaders) will discuss the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and the current political situation in the country. After this, the leaders would decide on how to bring the other important opposition political parties together,” Malik said.

    “The country is going through a very difficult phase. The economy has tanked and the BJP government at the Centre failed to tackle it along with the pandemic situation. There is anger against the Modi government. All these issues will be discussed in this meeting and the future strategy to fight against the BJP unitedly will be on the table,” Malik said.

    “Today, political strategist Prashant Kishor called on Pawar at his residence and briefed him about the prevailing national political scenario. They had met in Mumbai last week and had a second meeting in New Delhi today,” he added.

    Tuesday’s Opposition parties joint meeting initiative starts months after Pawar had promised earlier this year to unite all opposition parties and present a formidable front against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) before the next parliamentary elections.

    Pawar was planning to campaign for Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress in the West Bengal elections earlier this year but had to cancel his plans after he had to undergo some urgent medical procedures.

  • Prashant Kishor, Sharad Pawar meet for second time in two weeks

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Poll strategist Prashant Kishor on Monday met Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar here, their second meeting this month amid heightened speculation about the possible formation of a Third Front to take on the BJP.

    The closed-door discussions between Kishor and Pawar at the latter’s residence lasted for about one-and-a-half hours, sources said.

    The meeting comes a day before the NCP’s general body meeting scheduled to be held at Pawar’s residence.

    Kishor, who was instrumental in the Trinamool Congress’ victory in the recent West Bengal Assembly elections, had also met Pawar on June 11, fuelling the talk of opposition parties coming together against the BJP.

    ALSO READ | Political strategist Prashant Kishor meets Sharad Pawar; sets off political speculation

    According to sources, former finance minister and now a TMC leader Yashwant Sinha, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Manoj Jha and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh are also expected to call on Pawar on Tuesday.

    Kishor, who had been part of the BJP’s 2014 Lok Sabha campaign, later became a poll strategist for several non-NDA parties.

    He had handled the poll strategy of the TMC in the West Bengal Assembly polls and for the DMK in the Tamil Nadu assembly elections this year.

    He had also been a poll strategist for the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) alliance in the 2015 Bihar assembly polls.

  • ‘Better to reconcile with BJP before it’s too late’: Sena MLA under ED scanner writes to Uddhav

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik, who is under the Enforcement Directorate’s scanner for alleged money laundering, has written a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray appealing to him to reconcile with the BJP “before it is too late”.

    In the letter dated June 10, Sarnaik said even though the alliance with the BJP has broken, personal and harmonious relations between leaders of the ‘yuti’ (Shiv Sena-BJP) remain.

    “It is better to reconcile before it is too late,” the MLA said in the letter.

    Notably, the Sena forged an alliance with the NCP and Congress and formed the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra in 2019 after the Uddhav Thackeray-led party fell out with the BJP.

    Shiv Sena MLA @PratapSarnaik writes CM Uddhav Thackeray asking patch up wid BJP once again. He said their families r unnecessary troubled by central probe agencies; once Sena BJP alliance govt is in Maharashtra, then they & their families will have major relief. @NewIndianXpress pic.twitter.com/yBdnoHtxUW
    — Sudhir Suryawanshi (@ss_suryawanshi) June 20, 2021

    In November last year, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided premises linked to Sarnaik in Maharashtra in connection with a money laundering case being probed against a security service provider company and others.

    ALSO READ | MVA alliance for 5 years, not permanent fixture: Congress

    The Shiv Sena had called the raids a “political vendetta” and said the Maharashtra government or its leaders will not surrender to pressure from anyone.

    Noting that municipal corporation polls are due soon in several Maharashtra cities, including Mumbai, Sarnaik in his letter to the CM said, “I believe fighting a war like Arjun, instead of sacrificing oneself like Abhimanyu or Karna. This is the reason that I have been fighting my legal battle for the last seven months alone without getting any help from our leaders or our government .”

    Sarnaik, who is an MLA from neighbouring Thane district, also alleged that the Congress and NCP were creating divisions in the Shiv Sena ranks.

    “It is better to join hands with Prime Minister Narendra Modi again as Shiv Sainiks feel that would save the Sena leaders like me, Anil Parab and Ravindra Waikar from problems,” he said.

    Notably, former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya had accused the three Sena leaders of indulging in corrupt practices.

    Sarnaik, in his letter, did not name Somaiya, but said a leader “who has become a ‘former MP’ because of the Sena” is maligning the party.

    Sarnaik also claimed that Shiv Sena MLAs feel only the work of Congress and NCP legislators is being done and not of those from his party.

    “Shiv Sena MLAs wonder whether the MVA has been formed, by breaking the alliance with the BJP, to help the Congress and NCP grow,” he said.

    Sarnaik also said in the letter that while CM Thackeray was focusing only on COVID-19 eradication, the Congress was talking of going alone in next elections and the NCP was busy “breaking” Shiv Sena workers and inducting them into the Sharad Pawar-led party.

    Meanwhile, reacting to Sarnaik’s letter, Somaiya said the Sena MLA seems to be worried about jail now and so, he has asked CM Thackeray to join hands with PM Modi and the BJP.

    “All corrupt leaders of the Shiv Sena – Pratap Sarnaik, Anil Parab, Ravindra Waikar – will have to be in jail,” the BJP leader said in a statement.

    Somaiya also said he had lodged a complaint at a police station in Thane about Sarnaik “missing” for last 100 days. 

  • MVA alliance for 5 years, not permanent fixture: Congress

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: The three-party MVA alliance, comprising the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress, was formed in Maharashtra for five years and is not a permanent fixture, state Congress president Nana Patole has said.

    His remarks came after Chief Minister and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday said people would “beat with footwear” those who only talk about contesting polls alone without offering solutions to people’s problems.

    Talking to reporters here, Patole said there was no clarity in Thackeray’s speech about who he was referring to.

    Even the BJP has spoken of contesting elections independently, Patole said, noting that previously all the four parties – Congress, NCP, BJP and Shiv Sena – had contested local bodies and Assembly polls independently.

    “We formed the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA-in 2019) for five years to stop the BJP. This is a not a permanent fixture. Every party has the right to strengthen its organisation and the Congress has always given priority to providing relief to COVID-19 affected people by making available blood, oxygen and plasma at various places,” Patole said.

    The Sena and Congress, adversaries for decades, formed government in Maharashtra along with the NCP after the Uddhav Thackeray-led party fell out with the BJP in 2019.

    In a veiled swipe at local Congress leaders, Thackeray on Saturday said people would “beat with footwear” those who only talk about contesting elections alone without offering solutions to people”s problems.

    All political parties should keep ambitions aside and focus on economy and health, the CM had said.

    Patole said Thackeray made the comments on the occasion of the Shiv Sena’s 55th foundation day as the party president and not as chief minister.

    Meanwhile, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday said his party has always fought all battles of self-respect and pride of Maharashtra and the party on its own strength.

    “The Shiv Sena’s path ahead is clear. Let others come out of their chaos as one leader of another party speaks of going alone, and another leader from the same party says it was not the party line,” the Rajya Sabha member told reporters.

    He was referring to All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge H K Patil’s comments made during a function on Saturday, wherein the latter asked the state Congress to focus on strengthening the party while the high command would take a decision on going solo in elections.

    Raut said the Shiv Sena, whether part of an alliance or not, has always fought on its own strength.

     

  • Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray criticises Congress over ‘going solo’ remarks

    Express News Service
    MUMBAI: Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray indirectly criticised Congress, while addressing his party workers on the 55th anniversary of Shiv Sena, saying that this is not the time to do politics, but help the state overcome the COVID-19 crisis.

    This comes a day after Congress said that although it will support the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, of which it is a part, the party will not form poll pacts with Sena and NCP, the other two parties in the coalition government.

    “If we talk of contesting elections solo now, people ridiculeus. Which party does not want to win a s ma ny seats as possible fight elections on its own? But this is not the time for such announcements,” Thackeray said.

    Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole has been talking about contesting elections on its own. NCP and Sena have said they will fight together.

    Thackeray said every party should take pride in its work, but that should not hurt the self-esteem of others. “Every party has to expand, but we cannot do politics all the time,” Thackeray said. The Shiv Sena president also said Sena has self-respect and will not bow in front of anyone for power.

  • Congress to go solo in future polls in Maharashtra

    Express News Service
    MUMBAI: The Congress’s strained ties with its allies in Maharashtra has made the party decide to go solo in future elections while the other two partners in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the NCP and the Shiv Sena, are planning to contest the next local body, Lok Sabha and assembly polls together. 

    Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole said they will remain alliance partners in MVA, but henceforth the party will contest all elections on its own. “We will not enter into alliances with either the NCP or the Shiv Sena. We have to expand the party base by contesting all seats in all elections.

    ALSO READ | ‘Are there plans for mid-term polls?’: Shiv Sena after Congress talk of going solo in 2024

    The Congress has a solid base and that will help make the party the number one political force in the state once again. I am confident that the next chief minister of Maharashtra will be from the Congress only,” Patole said. The Congress observer for Maharashtra H K Patil was in Mumbai on Friday to consult the party’s ministers and other leaders to decide the future strategy.

    “Patil wants to know whether the Congress is capable of fighting alone and if not, then what are the issues. He asked them to address these issues and make the party a dominant political force in the state under the leadership of Patole,” said a source. On the other hand, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said his party and the Shiv Sena will contest the next elections together. Amid buzz of the BJP trying to woo back the Sena, Pawar also reiterated that the MVA government will survive for five years.

    “The BJP is ready to comprise in Maharashtra after losing power in Bengal. Earlier, it was adamant on the CM’s post but it’s ready to comprise now…However, Shiv Sena leadership had not made any commitment,” said a source.

  • ‘Are there plans for mid-term polls?’: Shiv Sena after Congress talk of going solo in 2024

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: With the Congress in Maharashtra expressing a wish to contest the next Assembly elections in the state on its own, its ruling ally Shiv Sena on Thursday said the 2024 polls are still far away, and also sought to know if there were any plans to have mid-term polls.

    In an editorial in party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, it also said that since all the major political parties have started talking about going solo, the Sena and the NCP will have to contest the next polls together in the interest of Maharashtra.

    The party said that although the Congress is an important constituent of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, it is on the third position.

    The Shiv Sena, which was one of the oldest allies of the BJP, had forged an unlikely alliance with the NCP and the Congress after the 2019 state polls to form the MVA government, after parting ways with the BJP over the issue of sharing the chief minister’s post.

    “Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole has announced that his party would fight the next Assembly elections on its own and install a chief minister of the Congress. He has also said that if the party allows, he himself would be the next chief ministerial face. Hence, it is clear that until Patole installs a Congress chief minister in Maharashtra in 2024, he won’t sit quiet,” the Sena said.

    “However, Deputy Chief Minister (and NCP leader) Ajit Pawar has said that those who get the support of 145 legislators (in the 288-member Assembly), will form the next government and the CM will be decided by them. His statement is also valid. Parliamentary democracy is all about majority figures. Those who succeed in it, will be able to occupy the throne,” it said.

    There is nothing wrong in harbouring political ambitions, but numbers are required for their fulfilment. Ahead of the last Assembly elections, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis had said he would return to power. But he could not do so.

    Despite BJP winning 105 seats, three other parties (Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress) formed a coalition government, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party added. Patole has spoken about going solo to boost the morale of the party workers.

    Soon after Patole’s statement, senior BJP leader Raosaheb Danve announced that his party would also contest the next polls on its own, stating that BJP-Shiv Sena alliance is impossible, it said. The Sena also said that there is no party in Maharashtra that will align with the BJP and hence it is evident that it will have to contest the elections alone.

    “The 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly polls are still far away, but the major political parties (BJP and Congress) are suddenly talking of contesting the elections independently. Are there any plans to have mid-term polls?” it asked.

    The party said that after what happened in 2019, it is too early to speak of 2024 now. “The state is facing a new crisis everyday. Some evil forces in politics are trying to ensure that the state becomes politically and financially weak,” it added.

    “If the main political parties are speaking of going alone , the other two parties – Shiv Sena and NCP – will have to join hands in the interest of the state. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and NCP chief Sharad Pawar have already spoken about it,” the ruling party said.

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

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: A day after election strategist Prashant Kishor met NCP chief Sharad Pawar, a spokesperson of the party on Saturday said there is a need to have a “wider alliance” of political parties against the ruling BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sbha polls.

    Kishor met Pawar at the latter’s residence in Mumbai on Friday.

    The meeting, which lasted around three hours, sparked speculation in political circles.

    However, what transpired during the meeting could not be known.

    NCP leader and Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik said, “There is a need to form a wider alliance of political parties against the BJP ahead of the next general elections. NCP president Sharad Pawar had himself spoken about the need to have a national alliance of all parties to take on the BJP, and had said he would try to bring together all such forces.”

    ALSO READ | Political strategist Prashant Kishor meets Sharad Pawar; sets off political speculation

    “Political strategist Prashant Kishor is well-versed with the data and statistics….During their three-hour long deliberations, this surely has come up for consideration,” he said.

    Last month, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut had stressed the need to have an alliance of opposition parties at the national level and said that he had discussed the issue with Sharad Pawar.

    Prior to that, he had also said that there is a need to restructure the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) so that it emerges as a strong alternative to the BJP, and the new front should be led by a senior leader like Pawar.

  • Shocking that Param Bir Singh has no trust in state police now, says Supreme Court dismissing transfer petition

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Friday said it is “shocking” that former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh, who has served the state for over 30 years, is now stating that he has no trust in state police and is seeking transfer of all inquiries against him to an independent agency outside Maharashtra.

    “It is commonly said, the person who lives in glass house should not throw stones at others,” said a vacation bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and V Ramasubramanian while hearing Singh’s plea seeking transfer of inquiries against him outside Maharashtra.

    After the apex court observed that it will pass an order dismissing the petition, Singh’s counsel said he would withdraw the plea and would avail other appropriate remedy.

    Singh, a 1988-batch IPS officer, was removed from the post of Mumbai Police Commissioner on March 17 and was made the General Commander of Maharashtra State Home Guard after he levelled allegations of corruption and misconduct against the then Home Minister and senior NCP leader Anil Deshmukh.

    Senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, appearing for Singh, said the petitioner can’t keep on facing one case after the other just because he is a “whistleblower” in the matter.

    He said Singh is seeking directions for transferring all inquiries which are already ordered against him outside the state and also that the investigation be transferred to an independent agency like the CBI.

    “This is surprising us. You have been a part of Maharashtra state cadre and served it for over 30 years. Now you are saying that you have no trust in your own state police. This is shocking,” the bench observed.

    During the hearing conducted through video-conferencing, Jethmalani said that the Bombay High Court had ordered a CBI probe into allegations of Singh against Deshmukh.

    He argued that Singh has been pressurised by the inquiry officer to withdraw his letter in which he had levelled allegations against the former minister.

    “These are two different things. The inquiry against the former minister is different and the inquiry against you (Singh) is different. You have served in the police force for over 30 years. You should not have doubt on the police force. You cannot say now that you want inquiries to be done outside the state,” the bench said.

    Jethmalani told the bench that Singh is not living in a “glass house” and false cases have been lodged to frame him.

    The Bombay High Court had earlier ordered a CBI probe into allegations of Singh against Deshmukh who had to resign as the minister.

    In his plea filed in the apex court, the senior police officer has alleged that he has been made to face several inquiries by the state government and its instrumentalities and sought their transfer outside Maharashtra and a probe into them by an independent agency like the CBI.

    Singh has been facing inquiries, including the one under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in a case of 2015 and he has termed this as a witch-hunt by the state agency.

    Singh, in his earlier plea filed before the top court, had sought a CBI probe against Deshmukh who, he claimed, had asked police officers, including Sachin Waze, to extort Rs 100 crore from bars and restaurants.

    The top court had then asked him to go before the Bombay High Court which later ordered CBI probe into Singh’s allegations.

    The state government and the NCP leader subsequently filed an appeal in the apex court but failed to get any relief against the high court order.

    Deshmukh denied any wrongdoing and had said there was not an iota of substantive evidence to even prima facie establish that any of the allegations made by Singh had an element of truth.

    In its 52-page judgement passed earlier, the high court had said that Singh’s allegations against Deshmukh had put at stake the citizen’s faith in the state police.

    Such allegations, made by a serving police officer, against the state home minister could not be left unattended, and were required to be probed into, if prima facie, they made a case of a cognisable offence, the high court had said.

    The high court’s verdict had come on three PILs including one filed by Singh seeking several reliefs as also a CBI probe into the matter.