No alliance with Sena: Cong.

Party rules out support to Shiv Sena if it quits the government, says it will punish ‘corrupt’ Sena, BJP leaders if it comes to power

February 11, 2017 11:23 pm | Updated 11:23 pm IST

Mumbai: Ex Chief Minister of Maharashtra Prithviraj Chavan along with Mumbai Congress President Sanjay Nirupam and Dalit leader Jogendra Kawade at a press conference in Mumbai on Saturday.PTI Photo(PTI2_11_2017_000117A)

Mumbai: Ex Chief Minister of Maharashtra Prithviraj Chavan along with Mumbai Congress President Sanjay Nirupam and Dalit leader Jogendra Kawade at a press conference in Mumbai on Saturday.PTI Photo(PTI2_11_2017_000117A)

Mumbai: The Congress on Saturday strongly refuted rumours that the party will support the Shiv Sena if it should walk out of the alliance with the BJP in the State government. Speaking to reporters at the party’s headquarters, senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan ruled out any truck with the Sena.

“We believe the Sena is as much responsible as the BJP for the corruption in the BMC. While they may suddenly be reminded of the good works done by the earlier Congress regimes, it does not mean we will support their government. This is just a false campaign by the Sena,” he said. Earlier, Mr. Chavan told news channels that his party had demanded an assurance from the NCP that it would not support the BJP if the alliance should break.

The rumours gained ground after Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana began praising the earlier Congress-NCP governments. “Just because suddenly the Saamana turns around and starts writing extensively on the good things that happened during Congress reign doesn’t mean we will support them. If we come to power, we will surely inquire into all their scams and even bring them to trial and jail all BJP and Sena leaders responsible for corruption in the BMC,” Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam said.

Mr. Chavan said the State government was untenable and its fate would depend on the outcome of the BMC elections. Calling the Sena ministers’ threat to quit the government as a “theatre of the absurd”, he doubted they had the courage to resign.

He also said the BJP is working hard to save its government and was resorting to unfair means in its desperation to win the crucial civic polls. “It’s a do-or-die situation for [Chief Minister Devendra] Fadnavis. He is poaching people from all parties by using all kinds of means, be it threats of inquiries against them or inducements of cash and posts.”

Accusing a BJP faction of trying to separate Mumbai from Maharashtra, Mr. Chavan said BJP national president Amit Shah wants to win Mumbai at all costs for the Gujarati community. “Gujaratis have told Mr. Shah that winning Maharashtra without Mumbai does not mean much beyond having drought-prone Marathwada on its side. The proposal for a separate CEO for Mumbai is a a precursor for separating State and capital,” he said. The Congress, he added, wants Mumbai to be in Maharashtra.

Admitting that the Congress campaign for development had been lost in the din created by the Sena-BJP bickering, he said the Sena had failed to fulfil most of the promises made in 2012.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.