On September 5, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is visiting Maharashtra. He unveiled a statue of the late Patangrao Ram Kadam, father of Congress MLA Vishwajit Kadam, in Sangli and addressed a public meeting.
Uddhav Thackeray, the leader of Shiv Sena (UBT), part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), kept his distance from the event. No other Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders were present either. However, Sharad Pawar, the chief of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), state unit head Jayant Patil, and senior Congress leaders were at the event.
Last week, Vishwajit Kadam mentioned that Thackeray did not confirm his participation due to prior commitments.
Thackeray’s absence from Rahul Gandhi’s event is significant because in the last Lok Sabha election, a Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate was defeated by Congress rebel Vishal Patil in the Sangli constituency. Patil is now a Congress ally in the Lok Sabha. Thackeray was quite upset about this defeat.
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CM Candidate Debate
Thackeray insists that the MVA should declare its chief ministerial candidate before the assembly elections. In contrast, Sharad Pawar and Congress prefer to decide on the CM candidate after the election results. Pawar said the CM candidate will be decided based on the number of seats won, a view supported by Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole.
Shiv Sena (UBT) Response
Shiv Sena (UBT) has claimed there is no dispute about the CM candidate within the MVA. Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut said, “The public will decide who becomes the Chief Minister. Pawar’s view is entirely correct.”
Raut added, “Who wins how many seats will be decided later. Our primary goal is to remove the corrupt government.”
