The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday targeted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his remarks that the party is not running the Maharashtra government and cannot take crucial decisions here.
Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis, in a digital press conference, said Mr. Gandhi’s remarks are an attempt to distance his party from the failures of the tripartite Maha Vikas Aghadi government in dealing with COVID-19 pandemic.
“Rahul Gandhi’s statement comes at a time when he and his party realise the coronavirus crisis is getting out of hand. Now the Congress and its leaders want to blame everything on the Shiv Sena and Uddhav Thackeray,” he said.
He said the Gandhis and the Congress cannot distance themselves from the government’s performance. “Rahul Gandhi’s statement shows that at a time when the government is failing, its allies too are slamming it. Here we have a government where all parties are blaming each other,” he said.
Mr. Gandhi, in a digital press conference in Delhi earlier in the day, had said Maharashtra is an asset of the country. “It is the centre of business. It needs full support from the Government of India as it is fighting a very difficult battle. We are supporting Maharashtra government, but we are not a key decision-maker here. There is a difference between running a government and supporting a government,” the former Congress chief said.
Referring to reports of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) attempting to invoke President’s Rule in the State, Mr. Gandhi said he understands the BJP has a duty as an Opposition to register protest or ask constructive questions of the government. “But uprooting the democratic structure for no reason and invoking President’s Rule is not a constructive Opposition’s work,” he said.
Congress allies like the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), meanwhile, said there was nothing wrong in Mr. Gandhi’s statement.
“He is right when he said Maharashtra does not have a Congress government. He said so because Maharashtra has a Maha Vikas Aghadi government. Those trying to distort the statement must stop. The three parties are happy together and serving the people of Maharashtra,” said NCP chief spokesperson and Minority Affairs Minister Nawab Malik.
