Late last year when Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress came together to form the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) a sense of curiosity developed as to how will the trio would work together for the betterment of the Maharashtra government. While the alliance appears stable from outside, there appears a difference of opinion on certain issues. Let us have a look at some of the instances where signs of discord between key figures of MVA.
Elgar Parishad Sharad Pawar targets Uddhav Thackeray: In his first criticism of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray after their government in Maharashtra came to office in November, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar on Friday said the Shiv Sena chief was wrong in letting the NIA take over the probe into the Elgar Parishad case from the state police. Pawar expressed his discontent on Thackeray's decision on a day when a Pune court passed an order to transfer the Elgar Parishad case to a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Mumbai. The court also said the order of investigation by the central agency cannot be said to be illegal or improper.Talking to reporters in Kolhapur, Pawar said it was not right on the part of the Centre to hand over the probe into the case, which was with the Pune police, to the NIA as law and order was a state subject. "It was not right for the Centre to hand over the investigation into the case to the NIA. But it was even more wrong for the state government to support the transfer of the case,"
Census and the National Population Register: There is no unanimity between three partners even as the state administration has begun the Census and the National Population Register (NPR) process. The NCP on Monday said it will strive to remove objectionable parts of the NPR, and that it has no objection to do it the way it was done earlier. Thackeray, on Tuesday, said he will study the details but indicated that NPR work will not be stopped.
VD Savarkar: Congress and Shiv Sena have been at loggerheads over VD Savarkar. Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s statement that he was “not Savarkar to withdraw his statement” two months ago had left the Shiv Sena miffed. Sena had said that Savarkar’s Hindutva ideology will always guide the party. The two parties also have distinct positions on Bharat Ratna for Savarkar.
Citizenship (Amendment) Act: While both the NCP and the Congress are strongly against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC), the Shiv Sena chose not to oppose the former while stating the NRC will not be implemented in the state. Thackeray said he had no problem with the CAA but he would not implement the NRC as it would create trouble for Muslims and Hindus alike, especially the tribal communities. Congress had objected to the Sena’s move to support the Citizenship Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha. Sena changed its stand when the bill came for approval in the Rajya Sabha.
The NCP-Congress divide: There have also been occasions when the Congress and NCP ministers have not been on the same page. Energy minister and Congress leader Nitin Raut recently announced that the government was considering giving free power to those consumers that use less than 100 units. Finance minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar, the next day, said that such freebies to the citizens was a bad idea.