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By:

Akhilesh Sinha

25 June 2025 at 2:53:54 pm

Congress tries a ‘third’ hand

New Delhi: The BJP latest manoeuvre in elevating Nitin Nabin as the party’s national working president has had consequences in Maharashtra’s two biggest cities - Mumbai and Pune. The result has left the Congress party in a curiously ambivalent mood: quietly pleased by the opportunities created, yet wary of the turbulence ahead. In Maharashtra, the immediate beneficiary of the BJP’s move is Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena. The BJP’s organisational signal has strengthened its hand in the forthcoming...

Congress tries a ‘third’ hand

New Delhi: The BJP latest manoeuvre in elevating Nitin Nabin as the party’s national working president has had consequences in Maharashtra’s two biggest cities - Mumbai and Pune. The result has left the Congress party in a curiously ambivalent mood: quietly pleased by the opportunities created, yet wary of the turbulence ahead. In Maharashtra, the immediate beneficiary of the BJP’s move is Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena. The BJP’s organisational signal has strengthened its hand in the forthcoming elections to the BMC, Asia’s richest civic body, and in Pune, the state’s second city. For Shinde, whose legitimacy still rests on a contentious split with the party founded by Bal Thackeray, any reinforcement from the BJP’s formidable machine is welcome. For Uddhav Thackeray, who leads the rival Shiv Sena (UBT), the message is ominous. His party, once the natural custodian of Marathi pride in Mumbai, now faces the prospect of being squeezed between a BJP-backed Sena on one side and a revived Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) led by his cousin, Raj Thackeray, on the other. Shotgun Alliance That pressure has forced Thackeray into an awkward embrace with his estranged cousin. A reunion of the Thackeray clans, long rumoured and often aborted, has unsettled Thackeray’s MVA ally - the Congress. Signals from the party’s high command suggest a calculated distancing from Shiv Sena (UBT), particularly in Mumbai, where Congress leaders are exploring arrangements with smaller parties rather than committing to a Thackeray-led front. In Pune, the party’s pragmatism is even more pronounced. Quiet efforts are under way to entice Ajit Pawar’s NCP, currently aligned with the BJP, into a tactical understanding for the civic polls. Control of the municipal corporation, even without ideological harmony, is the immediate prize. For the embattled Congress, the civic polls offer a chance to do two things at once. First, by keeping a degree of separation from the Uddhav–Raj combine, it can strengthen its own organisational sinews, which have atrophied after years of playing junior partner. Secondly, it can allow the BJP–Shinde Sena and the Thackeray cousins to polarise the Marathi vote between them, leaving Congress to position itself as a ‘third pole.’ Such a strategy is particularly tempting in Mumbai. A tie-up with outfits like Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) could help Congress consolidate minority, Dalit and tribal voters, constituencies it believes are more reliably mobilised without the ideological baggage of Thackeray’s Sena (UBT). Severing or loosening ties with Shiv Sena (UBT) would also simplify Congress’s messaging ahead of assembly elections elsewhere. In states such as West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, where polls loom next year, the party has historically preferred alliances that allow it to emphasise secular credentials and oppose the BJP without accommodating overtly Hindu nationalist partners. Mixed Signals The Congress’ internal signals, however, are mixed. When talk of a Thackeray reunion resurfaced, Maharashtra Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar publicly welcomed it, arguing that Raj Thackeray’s limited but distinct vote share could help consolidate Marathi sentiment. Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad was more circumspect, hinting that alliances with parties prone to street-level militancy deserved scrutiny. Wadettiwar swiftly clarified that decisions would rest with the party’s senior leadership, underscoring the centralised nature of Congress’s calculus. In Pune, meanwhile, senior leaders are reportedly engaged in discreet conversations with Ajit Pawar, whose defection from his uncle Sharad Pawar’s NCP last year still reverberates through state politics. The outline of a broader strategy is becoming visible. Congress appears content to let the BJP and Shinde’s Sena draw on non-Marathi and anti-dynasty voters, the Thackerays appeal to wounded Marathi pride while it quietly rebuilds among minorities and lower-caste groups. Mumbai Approach Mumbai’s demography lends some plausibility to this approach. Alongside its Marathi core, the city hosts millions of migrants from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand, a constituency that has increasingly gravitated towards the BJP. Raj Thackeray’s strident rhetoric against North Indians, once electorally potent, now risks narrowing his appeal and complicating Uddhav Thackeray’s efforts to broaden his base. None of this guarantees success for Congress. Playing the ‘third pole’ is a delicate art. Yet, the Congress, struggling for survival, has few illusions about sweeping victories. Its aim, for now, is more modest – it is to survive, to remain relevant, and to exploit the cracks opened by its rivals’ rivalries. In Maharashtra’s civic chessboard, that may be advantage enough.

"Justice will be delivered"

Updated: Mar 21

Disha

Mumbai: As the Disha Salian death case rocked the Maharashtra Assembly on Thursday, Nitesh Rane, Minister for Fisheries and Ports, who has been keenly following the case since June 2020, tells ‘The Perfect Voice’ that he has enough evidence to show that Disha was raped and murdered.


You’ve been speaking about this case since her death in June 2020. Who all do you think are involved?

June 8 and June 13 were related. To cover up what happened on June 8, June 13 occurred. I have been speaking about it since June 2020 because I know it wasn’t a suicide or accidental death but it was a murder. We have enough evidence to show that Disha Salian was raped and murdered.


What is the incriminating evidence that you have?

There are mobile tower records which show that Disha, Aditya Thackeray, and a Zomato delivery person’s phones were at the same location in Malad. The Zomato delivery person has also given his statement in this regard.


How was an alleged murder brushed off as a suicide?

The post mortem report was modified and tampered with. I have the original post mortem report which I procured from the municipal hospital where the post mortem was done. But these original reports were never made public. It shows that Disha was gang raped and murdered because the report shows injury marks around her private parts. There are many loopholes in their theory- if someone falls from the 14th floor, there are bound to be injuries on the face but the photographs we saw yesterday show no marks on her face. The post mortem reports that were released say that there were injuries on her face but look at the recent photos. Where are the marks? How is that even possible?


You have made a connection between Aditya Thackeray, Dino Morea and Sooraj Pancholi. What is the connection?

They are all friends who were partying during the Covid lockdown when everyone was staying home.


Most people are questioning the timing of Disha Salian’s father’s petition in the court. Why now after almost five years?

Her father stated that he was until now brainwashed into believing it was a suicide. But now he wants justice for his deceased daughter. Why question the timing? A father wants justice so he has approached the High Court. The police will act on court orders. It will come up for hearing on the High Court on Monday or Tuesday next week. Our assembly colleagues have come together to say that we should follow the Supreme Court’s judgement—that if a person is accused of rape, he should first be arrested. In the Assembly, we have only made this demand that the Supreme Court’s judgement should be followed.


“The original post mortem report states that Disha Salian was gangraped and murdered.”


“We have to protect our sisters in this state.”


“Our demand is that the Supreme Court judgement should be followed and a rape accused must first be arrested.”

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