Maharashtra: CM Uddhav Thackeray on shaky ground as murmurs of rift within MVA grow, Sharad Pawar takes centrestage

The MVA government continues to face a relentless attack from the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party over poor handling of the COVID situation.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi government of three political parties in Maharashtra is heading into a storm with speculation rife of a rift within the alliance just before it completes six months in power. While the Shiv Sena has put up a brave front in defence of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, with trusted lieutenant Sanjay Raut claiming all is well, NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s visit to ‘Matoshree’ after around two decades has added to the speculation around the stability of the government. Pawar, who is learnt to be at the centre of this apparent discord within the government, had met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari barely hours before his visit to the Thackeray residence.

The development comes in the backdrop of the spiralling coronavirus cases in Maharashtra, and the government’s mismanagement that is believed to have left opposition parties as well as alliance partners peeved. The government continues to face a relentless attack from the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party over poor handling of the COVID situation. The saffron party has fielded its senior leaders including former CM Devendra Fadnavis to question CM Uddhav Thackeray’s handling of the crisis that has hit the state hard.

If one needed any indication that things were not well within the MVA, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Delhi said that his party is only supporting the government in Maharashtra and is not in the role of a decision-maker, virtually distancing his party from all criticism coming the government’s way.

“We (Congress) are just supporting the Maharashtra government but we are not the decision-maker here,” Rahul told reporters on Tuesday.

Rahul’s comment evoked a feeling that the MVA MLAs were unhappy with Uddhav. Fadnavis seized the opportunity to say the Congress leader’s comments are aimed at pinning the blame for failure in handling the COVID-19 situation on the Shiv Sena and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

An indication of the growing rift within the alliance was seen when senior NCP leader sided with the Railways and praised Railways Minister Piyush Goyal for running special trains to ferry migrants back. His praise came at a time when CM Uddhav and Piyush Goyal were engaged in a bitter war of words.

Praful Patel, who is NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s close aide, publicly praised Piyush Goyal for his handling of trains for migrant workers in Mumbai. “Their efforts should be respected. We appreciate that they are providing trains so that people can reach home,” the leader said as he took a a different stance on the matter.

Rahul’s comment on Tuesday afternoon gave ammunition to the BJP which stepped up its attack against Uddhav Thackeray. Fadnavis, however, distanced from party MP Narayan Rane’s demand for imposition of President’s rule in the state.

“The Congress actually wanted to run away from the shared responsibility for the government’s failure. Rahul Gandhi wanted to blame only Shiv Sena and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray,” he said.

The speculation about the government being shaky was fuelled when NCP chief Sharad Pawar met CM Uddhav on Monday evening for more than an hour in Mumbai. The meeting came hours after the NCP chief met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, triggering speculation about the stability of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.

He, however, said that there was “no threat to the government” as he scotched talk of a political realignment.

Meanwhile, CM Uddhav has called a meeting of his alliance partners amid reports of a rift in the government. The MVA government is set to complete six months on Thursday.