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Patole’s offer to Shinde and Pawar has exposed the growing rifts within the Maharashtra government, while also sending a clear signal that the Congress is poised to seize a pivotal role if the state’s political landscape undergoes a significant shift.
Former Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole. (ANI)
Adding political colours to Holi, former state Congress chief Nana Patole invited Maharashtra Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde, the Shiv Sena leader and Ajit Pawar, the Nationalist Congress Party chief to join the Maha Vikas Aghadi and form a government without CM Devendra Fadnavis, if they faced suffocation under his leadership.
Patole on Friday claimed that the opposition would give both Shinde and Pawar the position of chief minister if they join the opposition in toppling the government.
“If Devendra Fadnavis is troubling you, we are ready to stand with you and form a govt together,” he declared, signalling a potential shift in Maharashtra’s political landscape.
However, while speaking to the Times Of India (TOI), Patole said the statement was made in a lighter vein for Holi.
“I made a statement telling them Bura Na Mano Holi Hai. However, if Shinde and Ajit Pawar want to come, we will embrace them,” he said.
Patole’s calculation is based on the fact that the Maharashtra opposition, comprising the Congress, Sharad Pawar’s NCP, and Uddhav Thackeray’s Sena, collectively holds 50 seats. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (Shinde) has 57 seats and Ajit Pawar’s NCP has 41 seats. When combined, these parties have a total of 148 seats, which surpasses the halfway mark.
Patole’s offer to Shinde and Pawar has exposed the growing rifts within the Maharashtra government, while also sending a clear signal that the Congress is poised to seize a pivotal role if the state’s political landscape undergoes a significant shift.
Meanwhile, BJP state chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule refuted any internal rift between the ruling government saying that their leaders will not be listening to the opposition.
“They (the opposition) have a mandate to remain in the opposition. This is what they should do. Our leaders (in our alliance) will not be listening to them,” he said.
