Maharashtra didn't bow down to Delhi, Pawar Sahab beat 'Chanakya': Nawab Malik's Veiled Dig At Amit Shah

Nationalist Congress Party’s Nawab Malik on Friday took a veiled dig at Union Home minister Amit Shah, who is often regarded as ‘modern day Chanakya.’ Amid strong buzz over government formation in Maharashtra reaching the final phase, Malik took to Twitter to express his view on latest development in the state. “Finally, Pawar sahib (Sharad Pawar) beat so-called Chanakya of Indian politics. Delhi failed to force Maharashtra to bend the knee. Jai Maharashtra!,” Malik said on micro-blogging site. The Union Home Minister has often seen as Kautilya of the ruling party, who managed to trounce the norm of anti-incumbency and deliver stellar performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections. After masterminding the BJP’s latest and most impressive win in the Lok Sabha elections as the party president, Shah was appointed as the Home Minister in the Narendra Modi government 2.0.

— Nawab Malik (@nawabmalikncp) November 22, 2019

Amid Maharashtra political power tussle, senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress leader have been holding a series of meetings for last few weeks. A key meeting of top Congress and NCP leaders was held on Thursday to discuss contours of the alliance with Shiv Sena for government formation in Maharashtra.

Congress leaders Ahmed Patel, Jairam Ramesh and Mallikarjun Kharge, and NCP leaders Praful Patel, Supriya Sule, Ajit Pawar, Jayant Patil and Nawab Malik are deliberating on key issues like the Common Minimum Programme to forge an alliance for government formation in the state.

However, on Thursday, the Congress and the NCP inched closer to form a government along with Shiv Sena in Maharashtra as they were thrashing out the nitty gritty of power sharing and finalising a common minimum programme to govern the politically-crucial state.

In a meeting, the Congress Working Committee, the party’s highest decision making body, after a detailed deliberation on the political situation in Maharashtra, gave its approval to join hands with the Sena in the state, party sources told PTI.

After the meeting, which was chaired by party chief Sonia Gandhi, Congress sources said the finer details on the government formation in Maharashtra is expected by Friday.

On Wednesday, the Congress-NCP alliance gave its most categorical indication about joining hands with arch rival Shiv Sena, with former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan expressing confidence of forming a “stable” government soon in the state after a marathon meeting of senior leaders of the two parties here.