Don’t flirt with Shiv Sena, Nirupam warns Congress
To the best of my understanding, the ShivSena will never ever come out of the shadow of BJP, Nirupam said (Representational Image)
Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam, who refrained from campaigning during the Maharashtra Assembly elections, on Friday cautioned his party not to support the Shiv Sena in forming the next government in the state.
“With the ref of my earlier tweet, I reiterate Congress should not get into #ShivSenaBJP drama. It’s fake. It’s their temporary fight to grab more power share. They will be together again and will keep abusing us. How can some Congress leaders think of supporting Shiv Sena? Have they lost it?” tweeted Nirupam, an erstwhile member of the Shiv Sena.
He also cautioned his party against “flirting” with the Uddhav Thackeray-led party.
“To the best of my understanding, #ShivSena will never ever come out of the shadow of #BJP. So, there is no point in flirting with them. It’s going to be a futile exercise. Hope the state leaders will realise the truth,” he earlier wrote on Twitter.
With the ref of my earlier tweet,I reiterate Congress should not get into #ShivSenaBJP drama.
Its fake.Its their temporary fight to grab more power share.
They will be together again & wl keep abusing us.
How can some Congress leaders think of supporting ShivSena?
Have they lost? https://t.co/Ym6ulQTWuk— Sanjay Nirupam (@sanjaynirupam) November 1, 2019
The saffron allies have locked horns over the post of the Chief Minister, with Sena insisting on rotational chief ministership and the BJP refusing to budge.
Earlier, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut even met NCP chief Sharad Pawar to pressurise the BJP into giving in, but to no avail.
The Congress, however, is hopeful that the BJP’s refusal will eventually force Shiv Sena to dump its ally and side with the opposition alliance of Congress-NCP.
Former Congress chief ministers Ashok Chavan and Prithviraj Chavan have spoken about the need for the Shiv Sena to break away from the BJP in case it wants to form a government with their party’s support.
The duo, along with Congress president Balasaheb Thorat, met NCP president Sharad Pawar on Thursday morning and later flew to Delhi to hold parleys with party president Sonia Gandhi over the political situation in the state.
However, senior Congress leaders like Mallikarjun Kharge, AICC in-charge of Maharashtra affairs, and Sushilkumar Shinde are against doing any business with the Shiv Sena.
Meanwhile, if talks with the Shiv Sena fail, the BJP is willing to form the government with the support of Independents and smaller parties in the hope that the NCP will bail it out the way it did in 2014.
