Cong leader Rahul Gandhi calls Maha CM Uddhav Thackeray, says party stands firmly with state govt amidst COVID-19 crisis

In a phone conversation, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has assured Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray that the party stands with the Maharashtra government amidst the coronavirus pandemic, and pledged full support to the state government.

In a phone conversation, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has assured Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray that the party stands with the Maharashtra government amidst the coronavirus pandemic, and pledged full support to the state government.

The development comes after Rahul Gandhi's controversial statement on Tuesday, distancing the Congress party from the state government over the handling of the pandemic.

"I would like to keep the situation here somewhat different. We are supporting the government in Maharashtra but we are not the major decision-makers in Maharashtra. We are policymakers in Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, and Puducherry. There is a difference between running the government and supporting it. " Gandhi said.

"I have said very clearly that Maharashtra is an important state. Mumbai is the financial capital and it is the focus of the people. It is a difficult situation here and the state needs a lot of attention from the Center!" he added.

However, Shiv Sena stalwart Uddhav Thackeray, in the phone call, has assured that the relationship between both parties was fine, and it firmly stands with the Congress government in the hour of crisis.

Meanwhile, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar is going to attend a meeting with the Maha Vikas Aghadi government today. The meeting will take place at Uddhav Thackeray's official residence Varsha Bungle.

The ministers of Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena are participating in the meeting.

Last month, the NCP-Congress-Shiv Sena coalition formed the government in Maharashtra.

Serious questions have been raised regarding Uddhav Thackeray's leadership skills over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic after it became a hotbed for the deadly virus.According to the Health Ministry, Maharashtra has the highest number of cases with over 54,000 positive cases of infection and nearly 1,800 deaths.

Notably, Mumbai, the financial capital of the country, has become the hotbed of the coronavirus spread in the state where the number of cases is nearing the 33,000-mark while the death toll has crossed the 1,000-mark as well.

Recently, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut clashed with the Centre over diversion of the Vasai Road-Gorakhpur Shramik Special train via Odisha. He said that his only urgent request with the Centre was that the trains should reach its destination on time.

The Vasai Road-Gorakhpur Sharmik Special train which left Palghar on May 21 reached Gorakhpur two-and-a-half days later. As announced, the train should have reached its destination in 25 hours, but it was delayed due to the diversion to a different route via Odisha caused by heavy congestion.