Search the Internet           Tips

Congress hits back at NCP

Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Govindrao Adik Wednesday lashed out at Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar, for his criticism of the Congress.

Reacting to Pawar's charge that the party was on the verge of disintegration, he told newsmen at Gandhi Bhavan that if the NCP was alive in the state, it was because it was in the government as an alliance partner of the Congress.

Adik stated that the NCP should realise where it would have been had it not been accommodated in the government.

On Pawar's recent outbursts against the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress, he said that the NCP was a confused lot. ''They are criticising the Congress and BJP. But so far, Pawar has not spelt out how will he form a Third Front,'' he said.

The MPCC president stated that Pawar's criticism of the BJP could hardly be believed or taken at face value. Adik said that even in the Shahuwadi assembly byelections, the NCP did not support the Congress and instead fielded a rebel candidate. ''The NCP has no agenda after the people rejected its opposition to the foreigner issue,'' he added.

Commenting on the party's Nagpur rally, he stated that the NCP's national strength was limited.

On the re-entry of NCP leader and former Congress legislator, Minister, Shankar Nam, to Congress, Adik remarked that the Congress was not after breaking its allies, but it could not do anything if its rivals or allies could not manage their houses.

He said the Congress was prepared for polls anytime, when asked whether his comments amounted to a threat, especially as Pawar too had said that the NCP was not happy being in power. He clarified that running a coalition was one thing and politics another.

Adik stated that the Congress was committed to running the Democratic Front government with the NCP and its allies for its full term of five years. But in the same breath, he added, that the Congress could not keep quiet if any DF partner attacked the leadership of All-India Congress Committee president Sonia Gandhi.

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report