Congress's Nana Patole Calls NCP 'Backstabber' After Party Joins Hands With BJP In Local Polls

Reacting to the allegations raised by Patole, Maharashtra NCP president and minister Jayant Patil said the allegation by the former was wrong .

Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole

New Delhi: Cracks in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) surfaced on Wednesday when Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole accused ally NCP of being a “backstabber” after the Sharad Pawar-led party joined hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party Gondia Zilla Parishad elections keeping Congress away from power, reported news agency PTI. 

Speaking to reporters here, Patole said the Congress high-command will be apprised about the "machinations" of NCP of the last two-and-a-half years in the forthcoming Udaipur conclave.

He further said that friendship should be done with all honesty and that "an enemy attacking openly from the front is better".

"Despite being in an alliance, the NCP encroached on Congress in Malegaon, Bhiwandi and several other places. Yesterday, the NCP joined hands with the BJP in the Gondia Zilla Parishad to elect the president. They have stabbed Congress in the back," Patole said, quoted by the news agency. 

He went on to say that in Malegaon and Bhiwandi, the NCP had “encroached upon" the Congress despite being an ally which proves that NCP considers Congress as its rival.

"MVA partners Jayant Patil (NCP), Subhash Desai (Shiv Sena) and myself had decided that efforts should be made to ensure that maximum Zilla Parishads stay with the MVA," the Congress leader said.

Reacting to the allegations raised by Patole, Maharashtra NCP president and minister Jayant Patil said the allegation by the former was wrong .

He said the NCP always wants the three Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) constituents to remain together.