Sonia, Rahul, Manmohan skip Uddhav Thackeray’s swearing in ceremony

Striking a note of caution, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi in a letter said the people had high expectations from the coalition.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi with party leader Rahul Gandhi./ File photo

Three senior Congress leaders — Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi — chose to send in congratulatory letters instead of attending the official ceremony to swear in Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray as Chief Minister of Maharashtra.

In her letter, the Congress’ interim president said the coming together of the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress has come at an extraordinary time.

“The Shiv Sena, NCP and the Congress have come together under quite extraordinary circumstances at a time when the country faces unprecedented threat from BJP. The political atmosphere has become poisonous and the economy has collapsed, farmers are in great distress,” Ms Gandhi wrote.

She noted that all the three parties should strive to implement the common minimum programme in letter and spirit. “The people of Maharashtra expect the alliance to provide cohesive, purposeful, responsible, responsive and transparent administration and our collective effort will undoubtedly be to ensure that these expectations are fulfilled,” she said.

Rahul’s note of caution

Striking a note of caution, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi in his letter said the people had high expectations from the coalition.

Though, Mr Gandhi was not part of any deliberations in government formation in Maharashtra, sources said he was not keen on allying with the Shiv Sena.