No anti-BJP alliance possible without Congress: Chavan

A day after NCP chief Sharad Pawar suggested that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar would be the most credible face of an anti-BJP alliance, former Maharashtra Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan said such a front is not possible without his party.
"It's true that anti-government atmosphere is building up and people are fed up with the Modi government. But we need to understand one thing that currently BJP and Congress are big parties in the country and any alliance is not possible without the two...As far as anti-BJP alliance is concerned, without Congress it's not possible," he told reporters here.

Pawar, whose party ruled Maharashtra for 15 years in alliance with Congress, had endorsed Kumar in an interview.
Chavan also criticised the Maharashtra government for not taking a firm stand on the IPL issue.
"Are you going to ban football in the state because it is played on green lawns, are you going to ban wedding on green lawns and if it happens, anti-lawn police will have to be deployed," he said, talking about shifting of IPL matches from the state due to drought.
The BJP-led government's measures to tackle water crisis were a "knee-jerk reaction", Chavan said.

"No prior measures were taken immediately despite knowing that it was a poor monsoon. Now they are restricting water to alcohol industry, but what about cold drinks and bottling plants?" he questioned.

On the Maple Group controversy, where a construction firm
is accused of misleading people with advertisements for cheap houses, Chavan said role of people at high positions in the government should also be investigated. It's disappointing that the police were not able to trace the builder after so many days, he said.