In an interesting development, the Congress on Friday made an open invitation to NCP chief Ajit Pawar and Shiv Sena president Eknath Shinde to ally with the party, offering them the Chief Minister post.
Former Congress state president and MLA Nana Patole made the remark to a local news channel on Holi Day. Stating that the situation was "quite bad" for Pawar and Shinde, Patole said the Congress was with both the leaders. "The situation is very bad for Ajitdada and Eknath Shinde. Both leaders are afraid of whether their party will survive or not. The BJP is not letting them live. That has always been the habit of the BJP, it finishes off their allies. The BJP has stopped Shinde's Shiv Sena in its tracks. Both Pawar and Shinde should be careful. We are with both the leaders," said Patole.
Stating that both leaders harboured ambitions to become the Chief Minister, Patole added: "We are with Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde and they should come with us. Since we are a national party, we will take care of them. We will make Ajit Pawar the Chief Minister for some days and Eknath Shinde for some days," Patole added.
Both leaders have yet to respond to Patole's statement but the Congress leader's invitation has become a talking point since there were already speculations that Shinde was unhappy about being asked to step down from the post of Chief Minister after the elections. Shinde believed he deserved the post since the elections were fought under his leadership but BJP insisted on holding the post since they had the most number of seats.
Though the BJP too is yet to respond to Patole's invitation, Shiv Sena-backed Independent MLA and Prahar Janshakti Party leader Bacchu Kadu has called Patole's offer ridiculous. "Is Congress even stable? Senior leader Ravindra Dhangekar quit the party just recently to join the Shiv Sena Shinde faction. As long as there is a BJP government at the Centre, the leaders will not go anywhere. Everyone is afraid of the ED's whip," he added.
