Nana Patole says Congress united, alleges Maharashtra govt trying to divert attention from real issues

Congress leaders Nana Patole and Balasaheb Thorat/ Screengrab

Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole asserted the unity within the state's Congress party, alleging that the BJP-led government is attempting to divert attention from crucial issues.

Speaking ahead of a Congress Legislature Party meeting, Patole denied allegations of MLAs missing the meeting, blaming any absences on personal reasons. He accused the government of creating distractions to divert attention away from real issues such as farm misery and unemployment, reported ANI.

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"Rumours are being spread that Congress MLAs are not coming for the meeting today which is not true. We have our two-day session in Lonavala from tomorrow and MLAs will be coming there," Patole told ANI.

"A few MLAs are not coming today due to personal reasons. All this is done to divert us from the real issues like farmers' death, and unemployment. All Congress MLAs are united and will stay united. I think the strategy behind the environment that is being created is such that the government itself has fallen into the trap," he further added.

According to the report, Patole argued the government's activities attempted to divert attention away from farmer suicides and unemployment. He criticised how the situation of Maratha quota activist Jarange Patil was handled, as well as the failure to confront rising inflation. Patole also voiced trust in Congress allies, notably the groups led by Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray.

By telling lies again and again about Jarange Patil (Maratha quota activist). The way Jarange situation is prevailing today and this kind of game was played to divert that topic and the way the suicides of farmers in Maharashtra are increasing. This kind of game is being made to divert it and I feel that there is a lot of anger among the youth as well, they are being trapped again and again by assuring them of jobs, they could not stop the inflation, and the public is also worried about that. Those people have trapped him and hence by bringing up such topics the government is trying to divert the questions of the public," Patole said, per the ANI report.

Chandrakant Handore, a Congress nominee for the Rajya Sabha, congratulated the party for the nomination and emphasised the party's commitment to assisting all segments of society. Meanwhile, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan resigned from the Congress and joined the BJP, citing disputes with Nana Patole. Chavan has been nominated by the BJP for the Rajya Sabha elections on February 27, with results to be announced that day, the report added.

"Our Rajya Sabha candidate Chandrakant Handore will get votes from Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray factions and from our allies like Samajwadi Party, Communist Party and others, which will help our candidate to win with maximum votes," he said.

"The Congress party has been respecting all sections of society for years. It has also helped the poor class, and it will continue to do so in the future" Handore said.