Maharashtra: Congress tears into Mahayuti alliance after NCP's Ajit Pawar skips RSS memorial visit

Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and his MLAs on Sunday skipped the Mahayuti alliance parties' annual winter visit to RSS founder Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar's Smriti Mandir in Nagpur.

This is said to be the second time that the NCP chief and his allies skipped the event—which also marks the 100th anniversary of the RSS this year, according to the party spokesperson, Anand Paranjpe. Last year, just two NCP leaders visited the RSS memorial.

Every year, on one morning of the Maharashtra Assembly's winter session, various leaders from the Mahayuti alliance visit the memorials of Hedgewar and and MS Golwalkar (the second chief of the RSS).

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Among the visitors to the memorial this year were Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde, in addition to a number of leaders from the BJP and the Shiv Sena.

As before, the NCP reiterated that its focus was on development, and the progressive ideology of social reformers like Shahu Maharaj, Jyotiba Phule, and Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar.

Opposition parties were quick to call this out, claiming that there was a rift within Maharashtra's ruling alliance.

Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant pointed out that if the NCP could not listen to the RSS ideology seeping into Mahayuti cabinet meetings, then the coalition would not remain in power.

Alleging that RSS leaders were only focused on "distributing money, gaining power, and drowning the Constitution and democracy", Sawant also urged them to clarify the meaning of 'Hindutva'.

"For the past 100 years, it has not been possible to explain what 'Hindutva is'. Will they at least clarify it now? Or even this time, will 'intellectual' mean just a program of pelting stones on Muslims, Christians, other minority religions, and Dalits?"  he added.