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Journalism of Courage
THE ELECTION of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA), scheduled on October 20, has strained relations between the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) after the former’s Maharashtra unit president Nana Patole linked it with Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) withdrawal from the Andheri East by-poll. NCP leader Ajit Pawar on Tuesday advised him to not link cricket and politics.
On Monday, Patole said Maharashtra has witnessed three by-polls in the past and despite efforts, none of them were contested by the candidate unopposed. “But only during this by-poll, a BJP leader meets someone and then everybody starts talking about making it unopposed… shows that this is not coincidental but by design,” said Patole.
He was referring to the meeting between Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar and MNS chief Raj Thackeray, after which Thackeray wrote a letter to Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, requesting him to withdraw the BJP candidate in the fray. On the same day, NCP chief Sharad Pawar held a press conference and made the same appeal.
Patole had also said the manner in which the BJP was running the country and at the same time, people with different ideologies were joining hands with each other, this was being watched by the voters.
He said in the MCA, Pawar and Shelar have joined hands and raised a joint panel.
When asked about Patole’s comment, leader of opposition and senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar on Tuesday said there was no need for such comments. “Cricket and politics are two different things. This is not the first time that people from different ideologies have joined hands to contest the cricket association’s election. These people come together for the betterment of the game and making a comment on this will yield nothing,” he said.
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