Laying bare the differences within the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar claimed on Tuesday that Uddhav Thackeray resigned as Maharashtra Chief Minister 10 months ago without consulting the two allies - NCP and Congress.
Pawar's statement pertained to the political upheaval in the state in June 2022 caused by a split in the Shiv Sena following which Thackeray, the Shiv Sena President, resigned as the Chief Minister on June 28.
After Pawar's comments to a private Marathi TV channel, Shiv Sena (UBT) President Thackeray and MP Sanjay Raut rushed to meet the NCP chief at the latter's home late on Tuesday night.What transpired in the 75-minute long meeting is still not clear, though the NCP promptly released photos of Pawar, MP Supriya Sule, Thackeray and Raut, all looking cheerful and relaxed.
"He (Thackeray) should have taken his supporting parties into confidence," Pawar said.Justifying his stand, Pawar pointed out that the three parties were jointly involved in all this, raising the issue 10 months after the MVA regime was unceremoniously toppled.
"If someone takes the decision to resign, he has the right. But the other partners in the alliance should have been consulted. Taking decisions without discussion has consequences. The fact that there was no discussion at that time cannot be denied," Pawar added.Interestingly, Pawar's statement came ahead of the Supreme Court verdict on the Shiv Sena split and the related issues.