Shiv Sena supports Pawar as UPA chief

Two days after Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) youth wing approved a resolution to make Sharad Pawar the chairperson of United Progressive Alliance (UPA), Shiv Sena, on Thursday came out in support of the demand.

Shiv Sena, an ally of Congress in Maharashtra, supported Pawar as UPA chief aiming to bring together all the opposition parties against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at national level.

Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP and spokesperson Sanjay Raut said that it was necessary for the Congress to expand the UPA after its drubbing in the recently held assembly elections in five states .

“Unfortunately, the Congress is not taking any initiative for it (to grow the presence of the UPA). The UPA is not anybody’s private fief… Today, there are doubts about whether the UPA exists or not. If it wants to face the 2024 elections, then the UPA should be strengthened and more parties should be brought into its fold,” said Raut in New Delhi on Thursday.

Raut said as a senior politician, Pawar could get more parties into this anti-BJP front.

On Tuesday, the national executive of the NCP’s youth wing had approved the resolution in Pawar’s presence asking for him to be made the UPA chief.

“Sharad Pawar is always in the forefront in this,” noted Raut, while calling the NCP chief as one of the “foremost pillars of opposition unity” and a “Bhishmapitamaha” or veteran in politics.

Raut said Maharashtra chief minister and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray too wanted all non-BJP parties to unite. Similar efforts were being made by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao. Raut stated that he had discussed with Pawar the proposed meeting of chief ministers of non-BJP states to be held in Mumbai. Thackeray will take the initiative in this, he added.

Incidentally, Shiv Sena is the senior alliance partner of Congress in the multi-party Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) but is formally not part of the UPA.

The Congress previously made it clear that it is not in favour of handing over its space to the NCP at the national level. “Sonia Gandhi is the UPA chairman and this is a decision of the UPA’s constituents… Sharad Pawar is a senior leader and we respect him, but any decision about the UPA’s leadership has to be taken by the UPA members,” Maharashtra public works department minister and former chief minister Ashok Chavan had said on Wednesday.

Senior BJP leader Madhav Bhandari said the UPA leadership will be decided by its constituents and the parties (Shiv Sena) who are not part of the UPA are not expected to comment on this.

“Pawar is already part of the UPA, who has stopped him from getting new parties into the fold. The logic that he should be made the chairperson to make the UPA stronger is bargaining,” he charged.