Internal rift within the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra have come out in the open yet again with a Shiv Sena MP on Tuesday alleging that his party members were facing discrimination in the ruling coalition. Shrirang Barne, who represents Maval seat in Lok Sabha, also said the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is the “biggest beneficiary” of power in the state even though the government is headed by the Shiv Sena.
Barne claimed that a section of NCP activists has been demanding that he vacate his Parliament seat in Pune district for Parth Pawar, son of senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar.
"I don't know who made this demand. The next Lok Sabha elections are still two years away. We should find out who made this demand (to vacate the Maval seat) and at whose behest,” he said. Interestingly Parth was defeated by Barne in this constituency in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections when the Sena was in alliance with the BJP.
Earlier, in a Facebook post, Nitin Deshmukh, working president of NCP State Youth wing said Barne has been a two-term MP and he should be made a Rajya Sabha MP so that Parth would get an opportunity to become the next MP. Deshmukh said he was voicing the view of the workers and leaders of the NCP Youth Wing.
Barne, however, claimed in Maval constituency, the power of NCP is limited to only one Assembly segment. “It should be found out whether the NCP is deliberately provoking the Shiv Sena," he said.
“We can see that the NCP is the biggest beneficiary of power even though the Sena heads the MVA government. Sena workers are being discriminated against and provoked in the MVA government," he further claimed.
On Monday, Sena MP Gajanan Kirtikar had expressed similar views and said it was “Pawar Sarkar” not “Thackeray Sarkar” which was ruling Maharashtra.
The Sena joined hands with the NCP and the Congress to form government in Maharashtra in 2019 after it broke away with the BJP following differences over the power sharing formula.
