Maharashtra polls: “Mahayuti is finished now,” says Congress’ Ramesh Chennithala

Mumbai: Congress in-charge for Maharashtra, Ramesh Chennithala on Wednesday hit out at the Mahayuti alliance, claiming that unlike them, the Congress has given “equal treatment to all parties” in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) ahead of the Maharashtra assembly elections.

“Nominations have been filed on all 288 seats by Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) candidates. When you compare MVA with Mahayuti, there is no tussle within our group. Mahayuti is finished now. We have given equal treatment to all parties in MVA. In Mahayuti, BJP has stolen all seats of NCP and Shiv Sena-Shinde,” he said during a press conference.

The “tussle” refers to Bharatiya Janata Party opposing the nomination of Nawab Malik as Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar) candidate from Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar.

Earlier, BJP leader Kirit Somaiya called Malik a terrorist, saying, “”Nawab Malik is a terrorist who tried to break India into pieces. He is Dawood’s agent and Ajit Pawar’s NCP has betrayed the country by giving ticket to Nawab Malik. On behalf of Mahayuti, Eknath Shinde’s candidate Suresh Krishna Patil (Bullet Patil) of the Bharatiya Janata Party started campaigning yesterday.”

Chennithala further claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wanted to “kill” their alliance partners, the Congress has just given the A and B forms to candidates who were already announced.

“This is a clear message that the BJP wanted to kill their alliance partners…We have given ‘A’ & ‘B’ forms only to those candidates whose names have been announced by the party. Those Congress leaders who have filed nominations independently should withdraw their nominations,” he said.

He further criticised the implementation of the state government’s Ladli Behen Yojana, saying that the government has no funds for the scheme, which is why it was stopped by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

“They have no funds for the Ladli Behen Yojana in the Maharashtra government treasury, which is why through the ECI they stopped the schemes. The women of Maharashtra will not get any money from the govt. It was all lies told before the elections,” Chennithala said.

The Maharashtra Assembly elections are scheduled for November 20, with counting for all 288 constituencies set for November 23.