Chasm in MVA? Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole hits out at NCP for Zila Parishad poll tie-up with BJP

Patole said, "Despite being in an alliance, the NCP encroached on Congress in Malegaon, Bhiwandi and several other places," adding that the NCP also joined hands with the BJP in the Gondia Zilla Parishad to elect the president.   

Mumbai: The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has witnessed several ups and downs since it came into existence, but the latest rumblings is being witnessed in the wake of Sharad Pawar-led  Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) joining hands with rival BJP in Gondia Zilla Parishad elections to keep Congress away from power.

Irked over this development, Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole accused ally NCP of being a "backstabber". Speaking to reporters in Mumbai on Wednesday, Patole said that the Congress high-command will be apprised about the "machinations" of NCP of the last two-and-a-half years in the forthcoming Udaipur conclave. 

Maharashtra Congress chief said that friendship should be done with all honesty and that "an enemy attacking openly from the front is better", adding that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which includes Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress, was formed to keep the BJP out of power.

"Despite being in an alliance, the NCP encroached on Congress in Malegaon, Bhiwandi and several other places. Yesterday, the NCP joined hands with the BJP in the Gondia Zilla Parishad to elect the president. They have stabbed Congress in the back," Patole is quoted by PTI as saying.

Patole said that in the Bhandara Zilla Parishad, the Congress foiled BJP's attempt to hurt the Grand Old Party. Flaying the NCP, he said, the latter had earlier "encroached upon" the Congress in Malegaon and Bhiwandi despite being in an alliance, which proves that NCP considers Congress as its rival.