The verbal war between Independent legislators Bachchu Kadu and Ravi Rana, both supporting the Shinde-Fadnavis government, finally ended on Tuesday. After Rana retracted his allegations of bribe against Kadu on Monday, the latter on Tuesday “forgave” Rana.
Addressing his supporters in Amravati, Kadu said, “Ravi Rana has expressed his regrets. I’m happy about that. He has realised his mistake. He has taken two steps back and I won’t mind going four steps back. I don’t want to waste my energy on such trivial issues. The issue has ended for me. I will continue to devote my time for betterment of lives of the poor in the state.”
Stating that he doesn’t care for power, Kadu, who heads the Prahar Sanghatna, said, “Don’t underestimate Prahar… We might be less in number but we have enough strength. We don’t trouble anyone. But if someone tries to needle us, we will not spare them. We don’t care for power. For the last 20 years, I have been facing 350 cases against me,” he said.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, which has been taunting the Shinde-Fadnavis government as “khoke sarkar”, meanwhile, used the controversy to attack the state government. “The controversy has exposed the Shinde-Fadnavis government formation. We had been saying that some deal had been struck for forming the government, that money was exchanged. The verbal war between the two legislators has brought the reality to the fore,” Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) spokesperson Manisha Kayande said.
The Uddhav-led Sena said the issue has also exposed the BJP. “Devendra Fadnavis admitted that he had made a call to Kadu seeking support for the government they intended to form. However, the BJP had all along been saying that it had no role to play in the MLAs dumping the MVA. Before Fadnavis, even Chandrakant Patil had said that they had been working for two years to bring down the MVA government. All this has only exposed BJP’s dirty politics,” Kayande said.
Stating that the controversy has exposed the “khoke” truth, the NCP said the controversy has left the Shinde-Fadnavis government completely embarrassed. “The CM and Deputy CM intervened in the duel in a bid to hide the truth behind ‘khoke’. Though the two legislators have been asked to keep quiet, it won’t be long before the ‘khoke’ truth will resurface again,” said NCP chief spokesperson Mahesh Tapase.
Denying that the Kadu-Rana fued has embarrassed the Shinde-Fadnavis government, BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari said, “It was their personal fight. It has nothing to do with the government. Therefore, there is no reason for the government to feel embarrassed.”
The Kadu-Rana war of words began last week. However, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis swiftly moved in, holding separate closed-door meetings with both the MLAs. Following their intervention, Rana on Monday said he did not want to get into a controversy at a time when the government was doing good work and he was taking back his words.