NEW DELHI: The Congress-led INDIA bloc suffered a setback in Maharashtra on Saturday as the Samajwadi Party said it was exiting the alliance over a Shiv Sena (UBT) leader’s X post supporting those behind the Babri Masjid demolition.
Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party is the second major constituent of the INDIA bloc to snub the opposition’s coalition.
For the entire duration of the winter session, the TMC has been skipping anti-Adani protests led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi outside Parliament. The Samajwadi Party has also been absent from these agitations.
On Friday, TMC president and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee offered to lead the INDIA bloc, in clear signals of growing discomfort with the current Congress leadership and its parliamentary and electoral strategy.
Maharashtra developments today expanded the scope of tensions within the INDIA bloc with both SP lawmakers taking oath at the special session of the state Assembly called today where Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy CMs Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar also took oath along with 230 MLAs of the ruling Mahayuti coalition.
MLAs of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) had announced a boycott of the first day of the two-day session to protest alleged EVM frauds over which allies have petitioned the EC.
MVA leaders Uddhav Thackeray of the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar of the NCP (SP) had earlier not attended the swearing-in of Fadnavis despite being invited. Today in Mumbai, Samajwadi Party MLAs state president Abu Asim Azmi and leader Rais Shaikh took oath while other MVA MLAs were absent.
The SP said it was exiting the MVA and defied the call to boycott the session after Milind Narvekar, a Shiv Sena (UBT) leader, posted a photo of a demolished Babri Masjid along with late Shiv Sena patriarch Balasaheb Thackeray’s quote: “I am proud of those who did this.”
The photo was posted on Friday, the 32nd anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition. Narvekar’s post also featured photos of Uddhav Thackeray, Aditya Thackeray and himself.
After this post, Azmi reacted saying: “In Maharashtra, the SP is fine to tread alone but not fine with being part of the MVA and be part of the communal ideology of the Shiv Sena (UBT).” The special session of Maharashtra Assembly will conclude on Sunday with the election of the Speaker.