Mumbai: Amid reports of a rift in the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra, senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan said all is well in the three-party alliance. And we will fight the elections unitedly against the ruling government.
Chavan said in an interview that the MVA, an alliance of the Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, is determined to defeat the Eknath Shinde-led government in the proposed assembly elections in 2024.
Asked whether Uddhav Thackeray is the leader of the MVA, Chavan said there is nothing to speculate on who will lead the alliance. He said, “We are all equal. We will go without any predetermined leader. What is important is to defeat the present government. The Congress has a mass base and it will be visible in the upcoming local body elections.”
Chavan has alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is afraid of the popularity of party leader Rahul Gandhi and the questions raised by him on the Adani issue. That is the reason why the Prime Minister does not want him (as an MP) in Parliament.
Notably, Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as a Lok Sabha member on 24 March, a day after he was convicted by a court in Gujarat’s Surat in a criminal defamation case. Chavan said the Congress has agreed not to raise the issue of Hindutva ideologue late V D Savarkar as there are different views about him among MVA allies.
Chavan said this days after former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray warned Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at a public meeting last month. Thackeray had said that Savarkar’s insult would not be tolerated. He had said that he considered Savarkar his “ideal” and therefore Rahul Gandhi should refrain from insulting him.
