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Sena-UBT was ‘not keen on backing’ Sharad Pawar for Rajya Sabha, calls NCP-SP ‘unreliable ally’
In a recent political twist, leaders from Shiv Sena-UBT have expressed their distrust towards the NCP-SP alliance. The uneasy feeling surged as talks of a merger with NCP and a shift to the NDA surfaced. Tensions escalated when figures from the Thackeray clan opposed Sharad Pawar's bid for the Rajya Sabha.
Mumbai: Nationalist Congress Party (SP) leader Sharad Pawar's entry into the Rajya Sabha was not without drama as NCP-SP's allies - Congress and Sena-UBT - were not in sync on sending Pawar to the Upper House. Cracks in the alliance are widening as several Sena-UBT leaders told ET that the party leadership believes that NCP-SP is an unreliable ally and can no longer be trusted to remain in the MVA alliance.
Angered over NCP-SP's admission that they were planning to merge with NCP and, hence, become part of BJP-led NDA alliance, the Thackeray family had decided not to support Pawar's candidature for the Rajya Sabha seat.
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"Supriya Sule and Jayant Patil had come to meet Uddhav Thackeray last Tuesday. Despite a two-hour discussion, they could not get Uddhav to support Pawar's candidature. Uddhav told the NCP-SP leaders that while they had respect for Sharad Pawar, the Sena would send its own candidate to the Rajya Sabha as it was their turn," a Sena-UBT leader.
Another Sena-UBT leader said that from the beginning they had made it clear to NCP-SP and Congress that it was not just about a Rajya Sabha seat. "Our leader Aaditya Thackeray had said multiple times that it was only the Sena-UBT and Congress that had been opposing BJP government at the Centre and there was no clarity on which parties were part of the INDIA bloc anymore. We were clearly conveying to Congress that such parties (NCP-SP) that frequently indulge in secret meetings to join the government should not be welcome in the alliance anymore."
NCP-SP leadership then changed tact and began all-out efforts to get the Congress leadership in New Delhi on board to support Pawar's candidature. Sule is learnt to have spoken to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and other senior Congress leaders on getting support. Although unhappy with NCP-SP's merger talks with NCP and even though they too had pressed their own claim for the Rajya Sabha seat, the Congress leadership was not too keen to displease Pawar and announced their support for him.
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"There were just enough numbers for the three parties to send one person to the Rajya Sabha. Sena-UBT felt that Congress would back it especially after Aaditya had publicly said that only Sena-UBT and Congress were fighting against the BJP government. However, once Congress announced that it was supporting Pawar's candidature, it put us in a difficult position as neither could we get our candidate elected on our own nor could we take a different stand from Congress," a Sena-UBT leader said.
There is anger within the Thackeray family over how Pawar got the Rajya Sabha support. Aaditya Thackeray showed it when he spoke after the nomination issue was resolved in favour of Pawar, "I want to say this thing again that we were fighting for our rightful share. Unfortunately, now we will not have an opportunity to get our candidate till 2028."
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Source: EconomicTimes
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