The war of words between the Congress and NCP leaders escalated on Thursday as the NCP said that the Congress should withdraw support to Raju Shetty’s Swabhimani Party in Kolhapur Municipal Corporation. However, the Congress then demanded that the NCP act first by withdrawing from the alliance with Sena-BJP in several local bodies in the Vidarbha region. NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik claimed that the Congress had assured NCP in the coordination committee that they would snap ties with the Swabhimani Party in KMC. However, that assurance has not been kept. “The Congress should immediately sever ties with Swabhimani Party,” Mr Malik demanded. Raju Shetty, who is the MP from Kolhapur, is a fierce opponent of NCP chief Sharad Pawar. There have been allegations by the NCP that the Congress is clandestinely supporting Mr Shetty to weaken the NCP in the western Maharashtra region. However, state Congress president Manikrao Thakre said that the Swabhimani Party is not a communal party and therefore, there was no need to cut ties. “The NCP has colluded with communal parties like Shiv Sena and BJP in local bodies in Vidarbha. They should first cut off ties with these parties first,” he said. The NCP has chosen to stay in power in Yeotmal, Nagpur, Gadchiroli, Amra-vati, and Ahmednagar zilla parishad with the help of Shiv Sena.
