'MVA govt exists because of us': Congress warns Shiv Sena against criticising its leaders

Even as the Maharashtra government is grappling with the fallout of the allegations against Anil Deshmukh, Congress warned Shiv Sena to desist from criticising its leadership. Addressing a press conference in Bhandara on Tuesday, Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole took umbrage at Sena MP Sanjay Raut's remarks pertaining to the United Progressive Alliance. On March 20, Raut had called for NCP chief Sharad Pawar to take over as UPA chairperson from Congress president Sonia Gandhi so that the alliance emerges as a "strong alternative" to BJP. 

The same position had already been expressed earlier in Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana of which Raut is an Executive Editor. Maintaining that the Uddhav Thackeray-led party is not a part of the UPA, Patole made it clear that repeatedly attacking its leaders is not appropriate. Most importantly, he reminded the Sena that the Maha Vikas Aghadi government owes its existence to the support of the Congress party which has 44 MLAs in the state Assembly. After this warning, the former Assembly Speaker again likened Raut to a spokesperson of Sharad Pawar. 

Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole remarked, "Regarding the consistent stance taken by Sanjay Raut on our leader Sonia Gandhi, first of all- Shiv Sena is not a part of UPA. We have often told them about this. Despite this, criticising our leaders time and again is not appropriate. That's why we told them that the government exists because of us. We are not the government but the government exists because of us. They should stop criticising our leaders."

Taking a dig at Sena MP Sanjay Raut, he further added, "We have the stance that he is the spokesperson of Sharad Pawar. Yesterday, Sanjay Raut himself tweeted that there was no meeting between Sharad Pawar and Amit Shah. He put forth his position like an NCP spokesperson. What we said has become clear." 

Congress' unease within the MVA

Despite winning a comfortable majority of its own in the 2019 Assembly election, NDA could not form the government over Shiv Sena's demand for the rotational CM post. After the imposition of the President's Rule in the State, BJP took a surprising step of joining hands with NCP's Ajit Pawar, who had reportedly promised the support of other legislators. However, the new Fadnavis-led government had to resign ahead of the SC-mandated floor test owing to the paucity of numbers. Subsequently, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray took oath as the CM of Maharashtra backed by new allies NCP and Congress on November 28, 2019.

In the last few months, multiple Congress leaders including Balasaheb Thorat have expressed their concerns over their party being neglected in the coalition government. In May 2020, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi had publicly stated that Congress was not the key decision-maker in Maharashtra. Congress has locked horns with Shiv Sena over numerous issues including the demand to rename Aurangabad. On various occasions, Congress has made it clear that it would not hesitate to quit the Maharashtra government if anyone speaks against its leadership.