A day after Ajit Pawar-Uddhav meet, 5 Sena corporators who joined NCP return to party fold

A day after Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar met CM Uddhav Thackeray, 5 Shiv Sena corporators, who had joined NCP on July 4, returned to the party fold. The aforesaid corporators from Ahmednagar district namely, Mudassar Sayyad, Nandkumar Deshmukh, Kisan Gandhade, Vaishali Auti and Nanda Deshmane re-joined the Sena at the Maharashtra CM's Matoshree residence. Earlier, they were inducted into NCP in the presence of Ajit Pawar in Baramati.

This had caused considerable consternation in the Sena camp, after which NCP supremo Sharad Pawar personally met Thackeray. As per sources, Shiv Sena insisted on the NCP facilitating the re-entry of the five ex-Sena corporators in the party fold. Thackeray's close aide Milind Narvekar reportedly played a crucial role in bringing back the corporators to the party. 

Read: Shiv Sena Tells BJP & Fadnavis That Uddhav Govt Will Last; calls MVA Fissures 'liveliness'

Sharad Pawar dismisses talk of a rift in MVA

Addressing the media in Pune on Tuesday, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar dismissed speculations of a rift in the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance. This comes a day after he met Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray at the latter's Matoshree residence where issues such as the differences over the transfer of IPS officers and induction of Shiv Sena corporators in NCP were reportedly discussed. Pawar maintained that his discussion with Thackeray pertained to the pressing issues of the state.

Commenting on the criticism levelled against Thackeray by BJP, Pawar reckoned that this was expected from the opposition. Describing the Maharashtra CM's work as "satisfactory", he conceded that all other work in the state had to be stopped after the COVID-19 crisis emerged as a priority. The NCP supremo also mentioned that the state Cabinet holds meetings for 14-15 hours a day regarding the novel coronavirus crisis. 

Sharad Pawar remarked, "I read reports that there is uneasiness and resentment in the alliance. There is no uneasiness. There is no resentment. My conversation with the Chief Minister takes place regarding the pressing issues of the state. There is no other reason."

Read: Amid Growing Fissures Within MVA, Sena MP Sanjay Raut Interviews NCP Supremo Sharad Pawar

Congress admits differences

The rift came to the fore in June after senior Congress leaders including Ashok Chavan and Balasaheb Thorat publicly admitted that there were certain differences with the functioning of the government. They demanded that Congress should get a bigger stake in the decision-making process and conveyed their grievances to Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray. Recently, many Congress and NCP Ministers were allegedly not consulted before Thackeray announced the extension of the lockdown till July 31. Subsequently, Sharad Pawar met Thackeray on July 3 and advised him to keep alliance partners in the loop while taking major decisions. 

Read: Raut Trying To Hide MVA Govt's Failures: Maharashtra BJP Chief