Rein in your leaders and follow coalition dharma, Ajit-led NCP warns Shinde

The Nationalist Congress Party on Wednesday claimed Chief Minister Eknath Shinde apparently lacks control over leaders of his party and demanded the coalition dharma be followed, an outburst coming in view of Shiv Sena leader Vijay Shivtare launching a diatribe against deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.

The Nationalist Congress Party is livid as Shivtare continues to criticise Pawar, whose wife Sunetra is likely to contest from the Baramati Lok Sabha seat, even after meeting Shinde in Mumbai recently.

Notably, the NCP has gone public against Shiv Sena led by Shinde twice in the last ten days.

Mahayuti comprises the Bharatiya Janata Party, Shiv Sena led by Shinde, and NCP of Ajit Pawar.

On March 12, NCP spokesperson and former MP Anand Paranjape asked Shiv Sena to restrain their leaders from making provocative statements or else face the consequences in the Kalyan Lok Sabha constituency, currently represented by Shinde's son Shrikant Shinde.

"The NCP is abiding by the Mahayuti dharma but the chief minister should control his leaders. Enough is enough. Vijay Shivtare is spoiling the atmosphere for Mahayuti in Baramati. He is also trying to disturb the atmosphere of the Mahatuti alliance," Paranjape claimed in a statement on Wednesday.

If Shivtare continues to target Ajit Pawar and breaks the coalition dharma in Baramati, then NCP workers can also respond in a similar manner in constituencies to be contested by Shiv Sena.

"Current developments project a picture of CM Eknath Shinde lacking control over leaders of Shiv Sena or they don't listen to him. We are striving to maintain unity but restraining party (Sena) leaders seemingly poses a significant challenge for the chief minister," Paranjape added.

He also referred to the issue of the candidate selection for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra.

Notably, the BJP has so far declared 20 candidates but the seat-sharing formula with the two other allies is not yet finalised, apparently due to a lack of consensus among the allies over certain constituencies.

Paranjape said workers of every political party want to contest a certain seat which is natural.

"BJP workers want to contest Kalyan Lok Sabha seat and have written a letter to their state president. But everybody should be mindful that decisions regarding candidates would be taken collectively by senior leaders of the coalition," he stated.

The NCP leader further claimed that the party is not aware of what transpired at the meeting between Union Home Minister Amit Shah and MNS chief Raj Thackeray.

"We all activists of Mahayuti will obey the decision of the leadership," he said even as he called for unity among Mahayuti workers, urging them to ensure that Prime Minister Narendra Modi wins a third term.

"We are hopeful that discussions among alliance leaders would lead to a successful seat-sharing formula and victory for more than 45 MPs from Maharashtra," he added.