Mumbai While the Shiv Sena is still struggling to recover from a vertical split, all is not well in Congress, another party which was in power alongwith Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in the state. There are speculations of a split in the Maharashtra Congress as a section of party MLAs are in touch with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders.
The buzz of dissent among Congress MLAs began with the legislative council election on June 20, when party candidate Chandrakant Handore lost as at least seven MLAs cross voted. The speculations increased after former minister and Mumbai MLA Aslam Shaikh met deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday.
Rumours that former chief minister Ashok Chavan may leave the party for the BJP have also thickened, leading to speculations if the next round of ‘Operation Lotus’ may now be aimed at the Congress after a vertical split in the Sena. However, on his part, Chavan has denied these reports.
On Sunday, Shaikh, who was a minister in the previous Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) regime, met Fadnavis with BJP leader Mohit Kamboj. Incidentally, BJP leader Kirit Somaiya had earlier charged that Shaikh was under the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for alleged involvement in construction and operation of unauthorised film studios at Madh Island. Soon after, there were reports that Chavan, who was the public works department (PWD) minister in the Uddhav Thackeray government, was likely to jump ship to the BJP.
Shaikh and Chavan could not be contacted for their comments despite repeated attempts. “Who is discussing these? These discussions have no importance. I have not taken any such decision,” Chavan had said on Monday. Shaikh’s personal assistant said he would revert, but further attempts to contact him were futile.
A section in the Congress claimed that these reports of a split in the party have been floated by the BJP and were aimed at being one up over the Eknath Shinde camp in the power-sharing negotiations by showing that the BJP has the ability to shore up its numbers in the house. But, even senior leaders admit that all may not be well in the ranks of the Congress in Maharashtra. The drift in the party has been exposed over the past two months, giving credence to these rumours.
On June 20, cross-voting by seven MLAs had seen former minister and Dalit leader Chandrakant Handore lose the legislative council polls. The debacle of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in these elections catalysed the events that eventually caused the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led government. On July 4, during the trust vote against the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government, 12 Congress legislators remained absent or reached late.
“In this case (reports of likely defections), there seems to be both smoke and fire,” a senior Congress leader told HT, admitting that all was not well in the legislature party. “There is a group of legislators whose loyalties are suspicious…we do not know if the seven MLAs who cross-voted were among those who kept away during the trust vote or if there are two separate groups,” he added.
After the cross-voting and abstentions, the party leadership had asked senior leader Mohan Prakash, who was earlier the in-charge of the state, to probe the issue and submit a report to Congress president Sonia Gandhi soon. A senior leader from the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) said that the crux of the report would be its naming those who had played truant and defied the party line and suggested action against them.
However, a senior Congress leader, who is a former MVA minister, said that these rumours were floated by the BJP to steal a march over the Shinde group. “Even if some dissidents decide to leave the Congress, they will not be able to garner at least two-third of the bench strength in the assembly to escape anti-defection provisions. This means that these MLAs will have to resign and seek re-election, which few can afford at this point,” he added. The USP of the MVA is the combined strength of the three parties that can be used to take on any defectors.
“These rumours have been spread deliberately by the BJP to put the Shinde camp on the defensive in the ongoing power-sharing negotiations. Shinde wants significant departments for his men and wants to accommodate in the council of ministers the first batch of Shiv Sena rebels who left with him rather than those who were coaxed by the BJP to join him later. The idea is to show that the BJP can boost its numbers in the assembly and reduce its dependence on this group of rebel Shiv Sena legislators,” the Congress leader said.
When contacted, HK Patil, secretary, All India Congress Committee (AICC) and in-charge of Maharashtra, denied that any Congress MLAs could leave the party. “These are all rumours. I do not see any truth in that,” he said.