No rumblings in Maha govt: Thorat on Deora's letter to Sonia

Maharashtra Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat of Congress on Tuesday dismissed perception of rumblings in the Shiv Sena-led government against the backdrop of Milind Deora's missive to party chief Sonia Gandhi on "slow progress" on Rahul Gandhi's poll promise in 2019.

In his letter to Sonia Gandhi on January 24, Deora had expressed concern over Rahul Gandhi's poll promise of allotting 500 sq ft homes to Mumbai slum-dwellers "not moving effectively towards implementation" under the new Sena-NCP-Congress government.

Thorat said he would explain the factual position vis--vis implementation of initiatives mentioned in the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) to Deora if the latter was interested.

"Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is working as per the CMP they had drafted before forming the government in the state," Thorat, who heads the state Congress unit, told reporters.

He said the government was also working on issues like a farm loan waiver and ensuring food at cheaper rates to the poor.

"We are working on these. It is a common programme of the three parties, not any single party's programme. Deora ji will understand if he looks at these," Thorat added.

When asked if Deora was hinting at differences within the MVA, Thorat replied in negative.

"Sonia Gandhi is our leader. Workers speak to her when they feel something. She also speaks to us. This goes on. We will explain him (Deora) if he asks us (for details)," he said.

Referring to senior Congress leader and PWD Minister Ashok Chavan's remarks on a written undertaking from the Sena, Thorat said they were distorted.

Chavan had caused a furore saying Sonia Gandhi had sought a written undertaking from the Sena that the new government in Maharashtra would work within the ambit of the Constitution.

"Chavan's statement is being distorted. He only had talked about the government working as per the CMP...All is well," Thorat said when asked about NCP and Shiv Sena leaders being upset over Chavan's remark.

Meanwhile, Thorat also said that all the MVA leaders are upset with the Centre handing over the sensitive Pune Elgaar Parishad case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), and added that a strategy will be prepared.