Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan has said coalition politics was sometimes a hurdle in decision making. He is perhaps the first party chief minister to complain about coalition politics at a time when the Congress has been running a coalition government in the state for more than ten years.
“Coalition can be a hindrance and one has to find a way out to make things happen,” Mr Chavan said at a function organised on Wednesday in suburban Vile Parle in Mumbai.
He further said the dynamics of coalition politics mean that there are “certain decisions that can’t be taken”. “At times, I get a call from (NCP boss) Sharad Pawar, who has a view on a situation...There are times when even Ajit Pawar (deputy chief minister and Sharad Pawar’s nephew) does not agree with him.”
“Had it been a Prime Minister like Manmohan Singh and had he got the kind of majority which Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi had, the country’s growth rate would surely have been more by at least 1.5 to two per cent,” he said.
Mr Chavan is currently not a member of either of the House in the State Legislature and has been keeping secret whether he would contest a by-election (from his home turf western Maharashtrra) to become a member of the state legislative Assembly.
His comments on coalitions is significant in the sense that a one party rule in Maharashtra is over since 1995. Even the Congress had to “manage” a majority in the 1990 Assembly polls as it was a minority government headed by Mr Pawar.
The AICC on Thursday played down Mr Chavan’s remarks. “All that Maharashtra chief minister said was regarding a political reality. This is a comment about a political fact. No body is doing a value judgement on coalition politics. There is no question of denying coalitions,” party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi told reporters here.
Mr Singhvi at the same time said, “Any political party wants to come to power on its own. But since politics cannot happen in a vacuum, alliances happen where they are required... Chavan was only stating political fact”. His comments came in response to questions on the statement of Mr Chavan in Mumbai. Replying to questions on whether the party endorses Mr Chavan’s views against coalition or was there a rift between the Congress and the NCP, Mr Singhvi said, “Don’t speculate from simple statements. We are not reading any value judgment in it. Media is building castles in the air.”