BJP-NCP alliance riles Congress
According to the Congress, since the NCP has assured action against its corporators, it has no option but to wait and watch.
Mumbai: There is unease in the Maharashtra Congress over the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) win in the Ahmednagar mayoral election, with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) support. There is a feeling in the Congress that the “pattern” could be replicated at the state level.
As Maharashtra Congress president Ashok Chavan is out of the country, the party could not be reached for official developments in this connection.
All 18 newly-elected corporators of the NCP voted for the BJP nominee Babasaheb Wakale, who was elected as mayor, on Friday. Mr Wakale received 37 votes despite the party having just 14 seats in the 68-member civic body. The Shiv Sena had won the highest number of seats i.e. 24 in the recent civic election but did not have a majority. The five Congress corporators in the civic body had abstained from voting.
A senior Congress office-bearer, requesting anony-mity, said that the NCP’s move in the Ahmednagar Municipal Corporation had the blessings of the party’s state leadership. Unless the NCP took action against its local leaders, the party’s credibility would remain doubtful.
The Congress officer-bearer said that the Sena’s five-time MLA from Ahmednagar city, Anil Rathod, was defeated in 2014 by Sangram Jagtap of NCP. Sangram is the son-in-law of Shivaji Kardile who is a BJP MLA from the neighbouring Rahuri Asse-mbly seat.
Allowing the Sena to have its own mayor would strengthen the party and Mr Rathod, which the NCP did not want. Rathod is the local rival of Mr Kardile as well as BJP’s Ahmednagar MP, Dilip Gandhi. The office-bearer also claimed that the NCP’s plan was to secure its Assembly seat in Ahmednagar city by helping the BJP for the mayoral election.
According to the Congress, since the NCP has assured action against its corporators, it has no option but to wait and watch.
The Congress leader pointed out that the NCP’s observer in Ahmednagar for the mayoral election, Ankush Kakade, had publicly stated that the party strategy for the mayoral poll would be decided by the local district leadership. “Even though the NCP has said it sent show cause notices to the 18 corporators, they are saying no such notice has been received. The pattern could be replicated at the state level too,” he said.
According to the Congress, since the NCP has assured action against its corporators, the party has no option but to wait and watch.