State Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal slams triple-engine government

Internal conflicts within Maharashtrarsquos ldquotripleengine governmentrdquo have reached their peak but all allies continue to cling to power for their own interests said Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee MPCC president Harshvardhan Sapkal in a statement on ThursdayldquoAjit Pawar leader of the Nationalist Congress Party NCP and Deputy Chief Minister is desperate for power He cannot stay without being in power so therersquos no question of him stepping downrdquo Sapkal remarkedThe twoday meeting at the Tilak Bhavan of the State Election Committee of the Congress was attended by Legislature Party Leader Vijay Wadettiwar Legislative Council Group Leader Satej alias Bunty Patil coincharge BM Sandeep Congress Working Committee member and former minister Naseem Khan state vicepresidents Mohan Joshi and Wajahat Mirza state general secretaries organisation and administration Advocate Ganesh Patil Siddharth Hattiambire Sachin Naik and other party membersAfter the meeting Sapkal told the reporters that the process of finalising candidates for the upcoming municipal and nagar panchayat elections had been completedldquoCandidates have been selected after consultations with local leadership Each district has its own political dynamics Alliances have been formed with likeminded parties such as Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi Shetkari Sanghatana RSP and Shetkari Kamgar Paksha in some districts No proposal for an alliance with MNS has been received from any districtrdquo he saidSome BJP officebearers also joined the CongressJunaid Khan BJP Minority Morcharsquos Maharashtra General Secretary and a close aide of BJP MLA Bunty Bhagdia joined the Congress in Chandrapur districtHe added that growing dissatisfaction within the Mahayuti coalition has led many officebearers from all three ruling parties to feel deceivedldquoIn the coming days several prominent leaders from the ruling alliance will join the Congressrdquo Sapkal saidMeanwhile Dr Satyendra Bhusari former president of Chikhli Taluka Congress in Buldhana district passed away tragically in an accident The State Election Committee meeting began with members observing a moment of silence to pay tribute to himStill no plans to include MNS in MVA before civic pollsWith less than three months left for the BMC and 28 other municipal corporations to hold elections it is still unclear whether Raj Thackerayrsquos Maharashtra Navnirman Sena MNS will be part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA alliance Congress state president Harshwardhan Sapkal stated that there is no formal proposal to include MNS as the new partner in the MVAA day after MVA and MNS announced to stay united for local polls to fight BJP and its allies the MVA leaders from Maharashtra briefed the media in Mumbai about their plans ldquoThe Congress alone cannot decide on the inclusion of the MNS All stakeholders of the INDIA bloc parties will sit together and decide on the issuerdquo Sapkal addedOn November 1 all Opposition parties MVA including the MNS had organised a protest rally in Mumbai against the irregularities in the electoral rolls However Sapkalrsquos absence from the rally had become a talking point as many in the Opposition on condition of anonymity claimed that the Congress was reluctant to have any proximity with the MNS for the latterrsquos tirade against the nonMarathi speaking people in Maharashtra especially Mumbai