Leader of opposition unaware about no-confidence motion
While 39 MLAs from the three MVA constituents signed the motion on Thursday, leader of the Opposition Ajit Pawar did not. He had told reporters late on Thursday night that he was not aware of any such motion
Nagpur: The cracks within the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) came to the fore once more, this time in the wake of the no-confidence motion moved by the Opposition against Assembly speaker Rahul Narvekar. While 39 MLAs from the three MVA constituents signed the motion on Thursday, leader of the Opposition Ajit Pawar did not. He had told reporters late on Thursday night that he was not aware of any such motion.
After the motion was moved and submitted to the secretary of the state legislature, not a single leader from the Opposition uttered a word on Friday. Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole had said on Friday morning that the leader of the Opposition Ajit Pawar would clarify the stand in the house. Pawar, however, avoided speaking on it.
According to Congress and Shiv Sena leaders, Patole initiated the process while keeping Pawar in the dark. Pawar was not in favour of moving the motion, as, according to him, it was legally unsound, and the fact that it was moved without first being discussed in a meeting of the entire Opposition irked him. The motion was moved against Narvekar on the grounds that he was biased against the Opposition while conducting business.
Gulabrao Patil, water supply minister in Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena said, “That Ajit Pawar was not taken into confidence on such an important issue is a significant sign of the rift within the MVA.”
Indeed, the fissures revealed themselves on multiple occasions during the winter session which concluded on Friday. The Shiv Sena (UBT)’s demand to announce the disputed border area between Maharashtra and Karnataka as a Union territory got no support from the two other parties. Ajit Pawar said in an informal interaction with the media that the Sena (UBT) did not discuss it with them, and that the demand had been turned down by the Supreme Court much earlier.
The three MVA constituents were also divided on the resignation of controversial agriculture minister Abdul Sattar. Sena (UBT) and Congress members reportedly expressed their dismay over Pawar’s failure to press the issue in the house with full strength. Members from the two parties tried to raise it on subsequent days, but the NCP MLAs did not support them. MVA members were also unhappy about the way the issue of the illegal allotment of NIT land by Eknath Shinde was handled by Pawar.
It was not just within the MVA—cracks were witnessed within the NCP as well over the suspension of their state unit chief Jayant Patil for using derogatory words against the Speaker. Pawar, instead of supporting Patil, apologised for his language on the floor of the House, which did not go down well with his party.
When asked about the differences within the coalition, however, Pawar denied that there were any. Congress leader Nana Patole too echoed his words. “There are no differences between us,” he said. “They exist only in the media.”
