Rahul Gandhi asks Maharashtra Congress to explain alliance with BJP in Gondia district’s local polls
The move stunned the NCP, which had been expecting to tie-up with the Congress to gain control of the zilla parishad.
The Congress high command in Delhi has asked its Maharashtra unit to explain why the party had allied with the Bharatiya Janata Party to gain control of the zilla parishad in Vidarbha’s Gondia district, The Indian Express reported on Wednesday.
The move left the Nationalist Congress Party stunned as it had emerged as the single largest party in the local elections on Monday. The NCP had won 20 seats in the Gondia zilla parishad polls, the Congress 17 and the BJP 16. After forming an alliance, the Congress candidate got the president’s post and the BJP the deputy president’s.
“We had been trying to form an alliance with the Congress for the past four days and were ready to take any post,” said Maharashtra NCP President Sunil Tatkare, according to The Indian Express. “The Congress should come clean on aligning with the BJP.”
Maharashtra Congress General Secretary Sachin Sawant said the BJP-Congress tie-up was “a result of a conflict between two party workers”, and that the state party unit has sought a report on it”.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi has asked the party’s Maharashtra unit to explain the alliance with the BJP in Gondia. Maharashtra Congress President Ashok Chavan said he had no knowledge of what the district unit had be planning. Gopaldas Aggarwal, the Congress MLA who handles the party’s activities in Gondia district, may face disciplinary action for the tie-up.
In 2015, as well, the Congress had unexpectedly allied with the BJP to govern the Gondia zilla parishad.