Amid growing fissures within MVA, Sena MP Sanjay Raut interviews NCP supremo Sharad Pawar

Amid the growing fissures in the Maha Vikas Aghadi, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut interviewed NCP supremo Sharad Pawar for party mouthpiece Saamana on Monday. According to Raut, Pawar spoke frankly about a number of issues ranging from the China faceoff to the political developments in Maharashtra. He added that this interview was conducted in the fiery 'Saamana' style. The Sena MP revealed that this interview would be broadcast and published very soon. 

Read: Maharashtra: Five Shiv Sena Corporators Join NCP As Turbulence Hits MVA

Rift in MVA

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi set the rumour mills abuzz on May 26 after trying to distance his party from the Maharashtra government's handling of the COVID-19 crisis. Maintaining that there was a difference between running and supporting a government, he observed that the Congress party was not the key decision-maker in Maharashtra. The rift escalated in June after senior Congress leaders including Ashok Chavan and Balasaheb Thorat publicly admitted that there were certain differences with the functioning of the government.

They demanded that Congress should get a bigger stake in the decision-making process and conveyed their grievances to Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray. Recently, many Congress and NCP Ministers were allegedly not consulted before Thackeray announced the extension of the lockdown till July 31. Subsequently, Sharad Pawar met Thackeray on July 3 and advised him to keep alliance partners in the loop while taking major decisions. He also reportedly expressed his disagreement on the harsh lockdown restrictions imposed in some places. 

Another controversy erupted recently after the Maharashtra government rescinded the order transferring 10 Deputy Commissioners of Police in Mumbai. Reportedly, the order was cancelled after all the three parties were not on the same page regarding the transfer. Earlier in the day, the NCP chief and Home Minister Anil Deshmukh met Thackeray at his Matoshree residence. As per reports, the Shiv Sena chief is miffed after 5 of the party's corporators from Ahmednagar joined NCP in the presence of Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar. 

Read: Sanjay Nirupam Alleges MVA Govt 'failing At Governance' As Pawar Advises CM On 'lockdowns'