Mumbai: Congress slams Shiv Sena (UBT) over ‘crutches’ remark, calls for alliance discipline

The Congress on Monday strongly criticised the Shiv Sena UBT over its allegation that the grand old party was using regional outfits as ldquocrutchesrdquo and failing to treat them as ldquoequal stakeholdersrdquo within the Opposition alliance PTI reportedSawant targets Rautrsquos dual roleMaharashtra Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant criticised an editorial in the Sena UBT mouthpiece Saamana alleging that its executive editor and MP Sanjay Raut often appears confused between his roles as a politician and a journalistIn a strongly worded post on X Sawant said that while a journalistrsquos duty is to point out shortcomings objectively a political spokesperson often targets opponents Confusing the two roles he added leads to ignoring onersquos own accountabilitylsquoUnilateral decisions not in alliance spiritrsquoAccording to PTI Sawant claimed that Raut believes whatever he says is the ldquoultimate truthrdquo and stressed that in an alliance like the Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA all constituent parties have their own views which must be discussed before making announcementsldquoTaking unilateral decisions and then blaming Congress leaders is not in line with the spirit of alliance politicsrdquo Sawant said questioning whether such an approach is appropriateCongress calls for introspectionThe Congress leader further claimed that a lack of coordination and dialogue within the alliance cost the MVA power in key civic bodies such as Mumbai and ChandrapurldquoWe are sincerely fighting against the BJP and are not interested in indulging in blame games Introspection is equally importantrdquo he addedSena UBT editorial stresses alliance politicsAs per PTI the Shiv Sena UBT in its editorial took a dig at the Congress saying ldquoThose who harbour ambitions to lead the government at the Centre must not just use regional parties as crutches but treat them as equal stakeholdersrdquoAccommodating regional parties does not reflect weakness but political maturity the editorial said It added that if the Congress wants to come to power at the Centre strong alliances in states are essential and it should convey that despite being a national party it respects regional playersRajya Sabha council polls spark tensionsThe partyrsquos criticism was directed at the Maharashtra Congress leadership over the recent Rajya Sabha elections and the upcoming Legislative Council pollsWhile both the Congress and Shiv Sena UBT were keen to contest the Rajya Sabha polls NCP SP chief Sharad Pawar emerged as the consensus candidate and was elected unopposedObjecting to Maharashtra Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkalrsquos statement that discussions were needed for the council polls the Sena UBT said the Congress appeared upset over Pawarrsquos stance that the NCP SP would support any candidate suggested by Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav ThackerayldquoWhy should Congress sulk if Pawar accepts Thackerayrsquos decisionrdquo the editorial asked adding that ignoring regional partiesrsquo views indicates narrowmindednesslsquoCoordination key to MVArsquos past successrsquoldquoIf the Congress truly wishes to come to power at the Centre forming strong alliances in the states is the only way Being accommodating is not a weakness it is political maturityrdquo it saidThe editorial added that such maturity would reassure regional players noting that these parties act as ldquoloudspeakersrdquo for local issues and communitiesIt also pointed out that the MVArsquos success in winning 30 out of 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra was due to coordination and dialogue within the alliance the news agency citedSena UBT blames Congress for MVArsquos fallThe Sena UBT further blamed the Congress for the current ldquoanarchicrdquo situation in Maharashtra alleging that had then Assembly Speaker Nana Patole not resigned abruptly the MVA could have remained in power for yearsIt added that Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has stated that all INDIA bloc parties are equal and both Thackeray and Pawar support him in his fightThe Sena UBT concluded that if there is a change in power in the state the Congress could lead the government with support from regional alliesWith PTI inputs