NCP (SP) Tells Alliance Partners Not Declare CM Candidates

Mumbai: Even as the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress are claiming that the next Maharashtra chief minister will be from their parties, Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) has taken a cautious stand on the issue. NCP (SP) state president Jayant Patil on Wednesday said the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) constituents should stay away from discussing chief ministerial candidates ahead of the Maharashtra assembly elections and instead focus on returning to power in the state.

Maharashtra Assembly elections are expected to be held in October this year. While the Shiv Sena (UBT) is confident that the next state government will be formed under the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray, leaders from the Congress are claiming that their party will emerge as the single largest party in the state and one of them will be the CM.

“The Maha Vikas Aghadi constituents should stay away from naming anyone as the chief minister (candidate). Our priority should be returning to power. There should be no competition among us over the CM’s post,” Patil said in a party programme in Sambhajinagar.

The MVA, an alliance of the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar), Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress, has been in power in the state from November 2019. However, it collapsed in June 2022 after the Shiv Sena split following a rebellion led by Eknath Shinde.

Ahead of this year’s Lok Sabha elections, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) had announced candidates for 21 out of the total 48 seats in the state. Its decision had drawn flak from the Congress, which said every MVA constituent must follow the coalition dharma. The Congress finally contested 17 seats, while the NCP (SP) fought on 10 seats.

Patil said that MVA allies should unilaterally declare the number of seats they are contesting and winnability will be the only criteria for the seat-sharing agreement. “There is no need to declare (unilaterally) the number of seats the parties are contesting. Winnability will be the criteria for the candidates in the upcoming polls and we will support such candidates,” he said.