MVA Future: Congress In A Spot To Back Raj Thackeray ; Reiterates Alliance With Uddhav And Sharad Pawar

The Congress will discuss alliance matters only with Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray’s Uddhav Thackeray and Nationalist Congress Party’s Sharad Pawar, and leave the decision on a ‘sub-alliance’ to them, former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan has said amid speculation that the Thackeray cousins and the NCP factions may join hands.

Chavan, however, made it clear that if the NCP merger happens and if that party goes with the National Democratic Alliance, it would become difficult for the Congress to continue the alliance with them in Maharashtra.

In an interview with PTI, he dubbed the talk of coming together of the Shiv Sena-UBT and the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena as a “family matter”.

“If we go in an alliance (in the local body polls), we will have a seat sharing with the leaders of the alliance partners, that is Mr. Uddhav Thackeray of the Shiv Sena-UBT and Mr. Sharad Pawar of the NCP-SP. Now, with whom they do a sub-alliance is entirely their situation,” Chavan, a senior Congress leader, said

“If the person is completely against the values that the Congress stands for, then we will raise some objections; otherwise, it is an internal family matter and how they do seat adjustments in case we go with an alliance (in the local body polls),” he said.