Difference in Maha Vikas Aghadi? After Controversial Anil Deshmukh Oped, Debate Starts Off Over Lockdown

Day after Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray asked the administration to prepare for a lockdown, its ally, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), refuted the plans said that preparation doesn’t mean the shutdown would happen.

“The party does not want a lockdown in Maharashtra, and has told the CM too. Even now if people follow coronavirus rules, we may be saved from a shutdown. Preparing for a lockdown doesn’t mean it will happen,” an NCP leader said.

This is the second time recently when difference of opinion has emerged within the allies. Last week, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut’s ‘Anil Deshmukh is accidental home minister’ editorial in party mouthpiece Saamana created a furore, with deputy CM Ajit Pawar asking him not to play a ‘spoilsport’.

The two parties have differed on the issue of lockdown since the beginning. NCP has been saying that a complete shutdown is not a solution. Night curfews have been imposed in Maharashtra from Sunday, prohibiting people to venture out from 8 pm to 7 am, except for essential services.

The state on Monday saw a slight dip in cases as it recorded 31,643 infections in 24 hours. Some believe that the dip could be because of low testing on Holi weekend. Nashik district’s tally rose to 1,74,682 with the addition of 2,847 cases. The toll increased by 25 to touch 2,351 and the recovery count rose to 1,47,141 after 2,610 people were discharged.