Sharad Pawar calls for cohesion among MVA partners

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), of which his party is a constituent along with the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Congress, should work together even though the allies may have differences of opinion.
Talking to reporters here, Pawar said the issue of unity among the allies was discussed during his meeting with Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday.
Pawar said some programmes have been decided for the unity of the alliance. “Everyone should participate in these programmes. This is the policy we agreed on yesterday,” he said.
The meeting between Pawar and Thackeray took place days after the NCP chief favoured a probe by a Supreme Court panel into allegations against the Adani Group over a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC).
The Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT) have been insisting on a JPC probe. Pawar had earlier said although the NCP did not agree with the demand of anti-BJP parties for a JPC probe, it would not go against their stand for the sake of Opposition unity.
Pawar had said if a JPC is formed, looking at the BJP’s numerical strength in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, the ruling party will have 14-15 members in the panel, while the Opposition will have five to six MPs.
“The panel will also be headed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). So who will control the panel and what will be its influence on the report?” Pawar had asked, seeking to drive home the point that a parliamentary probe committee will have a limited scope.
Instead, a Supreme Court-appointed panel should probe the issue, the NCP leader had added.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday said Uddhav Thackeray and Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar discussed political developments in Maharashtra and the country during their meeting a day before, which he termed as “positive”.
Thackeray had visited Pawar’s residence in south Mumbai on Tuesday late evening. Talking to reporters, Raut said Congress general secretary K C Venugopal has sought Thackeray’s time for a meeting.
He said Venugopal will meet Thackeray as a representative of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and the priority is to maintain the Opposition unity. The possible meeting between Thackeray and Venugopal will be held amid strained ties between Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) after Rahul Gandhi’s remarks on late Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar, which were objected to by Thackeray.