In what could be seen as a sign of disagreement within the tripartite Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra, the State unit of the Congress on Monday said that Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar failed to understand Rahul Gandhi.
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“We respect the seniority of Pawar saheb. But this time we feel that he failed to understand Mr. Gandhi,” Revenue Minister and State Congress president Balasaheb Thorat said.
The Congress leader said that the misconception around Mr. Gandhi was due to the propaganda run by the BJP and the impression created by that campaign. “We are sure that he has begun his journey towards success,” Mr. Thorat said.
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Mr. Thorat was referring to the NCP chief’s statement a week ago where the latter said that Mr. Gandhi lacked consistency needed to be accepted as a leader by the country. He was speaking at a function organised by Marathi newspaper Lokmat .
Congress leader and Women and Child Welfare Minister Yashomati Thakur had reacted strongly to Mr. Pawar’s statement. “Being a working president of MPCC I must appeal colleagues in MVA if you want stable govt in Maharashtra then stop commenting leadership of Congress. Everybody should follow basic rules of coalition. Our leadership is very strong and stable. Formation of MVA is result of our strong belief in democratic values,” she had tweeted, hinting the displeasure of the Congress leadership over the comments made by the NCP chief.
When asked whether he agreed to the statement made by Ms. Thakur, the State Congress president said that she had spoken what every Congress leader and worker felt. “Mr. Gandhi is our leader. He is not only accepted within the party but under his leadership, the party across the country is getting united and rebuilt. He is leading from the front despite all the attacks and hardships faced by him in the past,” Mr. Thorat said.