Maharashtra political crisis: Feud in Congress intensifies after collapse of MVA govt

Rahul Gandhi with state Congress working presidents Arif Naseem Khan (far left) and Chandrakant Handore, on Wednesday. Pic/Twitter

The recent developments in the Maharashtra Congress have intensified a feud within the party, with some senior leaders approaching the high command with complaints.

Alleged cross-voting by the party MLAs in the MLC polls, party ministers' mute consent to the renaming of Aurangabad and Osmanabad and absence of about a dozen party legislators in the confidence vote of the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government have escalated troubles in the Congress.

According to information received by mid-day, things have come to such a pass that the Congress high command is mulling sending an observer/a senior leader to Mumbai soon. Congress Maharashtra unit's working presidents Arif Naseem khan and Chandrakant Handore met Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Also read: Maharashtra political crisis: Shiv Sena battle spills over to local polls

Cross-voting in MLC polls

Handore was a victim of cross-voting in the MLC polls, because despite being the party's priority candidate, who was allotted 27 first-preference votes, he polled only 22. The party's second candidate Bhai Jagpat unexpectedly won on the basis of second-preference votes despite getting fewer first-preference votes. The MLC polls followed a nine-day rebellion in the Shiv Sena, which won two seats. The rebellion ended with the exit of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, of which the Congress was a partner since 2019.

On Wednesday, former chief minister and party MLA Prithviraj Chavan demanded action in the cross-voting matter. Khan and Handore have also expressed their concerns before Gandhi. Congress's general secretary Zakir Ahmed told mid-day, "Prithviraj Chavan ji is our senior leader and the demand he has raised with the high command is our collective voice. The people in Congress want that a Dalit leader like Handore ji, who is Mumbai's former mayor, former minister and working president, gets justice."

Handore tweeted that he has demanded action against the MLAs who have betrayed the party. "I was party's Number 1 candidate yet some MLAs cross-voted," he stated. Khan said they discussed the matters that concerned Mumbai and Maharashtra.

State Congress president Nana Patole, who was Delhi on Thursday to meet party bosses, later tweeted that the high command has taken the defeat of a Dalit leader [Handore]in the MLC polls very seriously. "The high command does not approve of the defeat of a Dalit leader and has taken it seriously. It will examine the defeat and take a definite action against the culprits," he stated further.

Anti-secular agenda

The second incident that has seized the attention of the Congress high command is the renaming of Aurangabad as Sambhajinagar and Osmanabad as Dharashiv. Sources said the Delhi bosses had asked the ministers to walk out from the meeting if the proposal came up for consideration in the Cabinet meeting despite their opposition. Two ministers, albeit junior than many others in the Congress rank, walked out in protest but returned to the meeting after a symbolic gesture.

A senior Congress leader said questions have been raised over the casual approach of the Congress legislative party which didn't brief the ministers in a pre-cabinet meeting, which turned out to be the last for the Uddhav Thackeray government. "In the first place, the proposal shouldn't have been considered because it was against the party's secular credentials and the common minimum programme that was agreed upon by the MVA constituents."

A leader who attended a gathering at a senior minister's residence a night before the Cabinet meeting, said, "When apprised of the development and the Sena's insistence to get a last-minute proposal approved, the high command directed that the ministers walk out when it comes up. Barring two, all other ministers defied the party's directive," he said.

Missing for trust vote

The absence of about a dozen party MLAs during the trust vote on July 4 has set tongues wagging. They arrived after the Assembly doors were shut for polling. Some MLAs, including Bandra East representative Zeeshan Siddique, clarified that they requested the speaker to allow them entry because head count for the MVA hadn't started yet.

On the reason for the delay, some MLAs said they were stuck in traffic. The party high command has scrutinised senior leader and former minister Ashok Chavan's statement that since the Speaker's poll a day before had given the government 164 votes, their [Congress MLAs] presence or absence wouldn't have made any difference. Chavan clarified that they missed the vote because they assumed that, as per the house tradition, the head count would begin after the speeches. However, the division of votes took place before the speeches were made that day.