Mumbai, February 22 Leaders of the NCP (SP) remained absent from a meeting of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) aimed at projecting opposition unity ahead of the Maharashtra legislature's budget session, with the Shiv Sena (UBT) attributing it to a "communication gap".
The MVA comprises the Congress, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP), and the Sena (UBT), led by Uddhav Thackeray. The budget session of the state legislature will be held from February 23 to March 25.
Sena (UBT) leader Bhaskar Jadhav said he had personally spoken to senior NCP (SP) leaders Jayant Patil, Rohit Pawar, and Jitendra Awhad about the meeting.
The NCP (SP) leaders had conveyed that prior commitments would delay their arrival in Mumbai, Jadhav said. They had suggested that the MVA proceed with its meeting and decisions ahead of the budget session.
Jadhav claimed that he had also spoken to Lok Sabha member Supriya Sule on the matter. "There was also a slight communication gap, but we are all together," he insisted, attempting to quell speculation of discord within the opposition alliance.
Awhad, who represents the Mumbra-Kalwa constituency in Thane, said he was preoccupied with work related to the Thane Municipal Corporation, where the leader of the opposition will be picked on Monday.
The NCP (SP) has 10 MLAs in the 288-member Maharashtra assembly. Its chief Sharad Pawar (85) was admitted to a hospital in Pune earlier on Sunday after suffering from mild dehydration, marking his second hospitalisation in the city this month.
Meanwhile, the MVA is gearing up for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections. Although the terms of seven Rajya Sabha members, including Pawar and three others from MVA, end in April, the Opposition can potentially elect only one candidate due to its depleted strength.
While the BJP-led Mahayuti has 232 MLAs, the combined Opposition has just 48 legislators in the House. Rajya Sabha members are elected by MLAs.
Earlier, Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut had claimed that Pawar had expressed his wish to be renominated to the Upper House of Parliament. However, his party colleague Aaditya Thackeray subsequently suggested that the arithmetic favours his party over its MVA allies Congress and NCP (SP) to stake claim to the lone Rajya Sabha seat they could secure.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed confidence, claiming that the BJP-led NDA would win six of the seven Rajya Sabha seats from Maharashtra that will fall vacant soon.
Sharad Pawar and Fauzia Khan of NCP (SP), Priyanka Chaturvedi of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), Ramdas Athawale of RPI (Athawale), BJP’s Bhagwat Karad, Congress’ Rajani Patil, and NCP’s Dhairysheel Patil are set to retire from Rajya Sabha in April.
