NEW DELHI: After an unprecedented drubbing in the Maharastra poll, cracks seem to have become apparent in the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) as Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ambadas Danve hinted that a section of workers feel that the party should go solo on upcoming elections.
“There is a feeling among a large section of the party to contest the elections independently. It is immaterial whether Shiv Sena (UBT) gets power or not. The party was not born to seize power. It is a party that works on an ideology,” Danve, who is the leader of opposition in the legislative council, told new agency PTI.
Danve also claimed that even Congress party workers would want to fight the elections independently in the times to come.
The MVA, which comprises Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP) and Congress, suffered a humiliating defeat as it won only 46 out of the 288 assembly seats.
Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole gave a subdued reaction to Danve’s statement, saying the Sena (UBT) leader has “right to express his own views”.
Senior Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar, who served as leader of the opposition in the state assembly, said just like Sena (UBT) leaders, those in the Congress also wanted to fight the elections alone.
“But that cannot be the decision of the party. We are in the process of analysing the result and causes of our defeat. Even during the peak of the Modi wave, we performed better than the present outcome and it is because of this we have doubts about EVMs,” he was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Wadettiwar further said: “Not just political parties, even the common public is raising doubts (over EVMs)…So, the judiciary should take note.”
Meanwhile, Congress leader Amit Deshmukh said all MVA allies are analysing what went wrong and hence it is not proper to make comments beforehand.