Ajit Pawar Confirms Mahayuti Seat Sharing Talks, Ignores Sena Critic
Mumbai: Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Saturday indicated that he was firm on facing the Assembly election as part of the Mahayuti alliance. He said that he has already started seat sharing discussions with the alliance partners and his party will contest 60 out of 288 Assembly seats. He also downplayed the controversial statements made by some leaders from Shiv Sena and BJP regarding the alliance.
Addressing a youth rally in Nagpur, Mr. Pawar said, “We had won 54 seats in the 2019 elections. This time, we have three Congress MLAs and three Independents with us. Therefore, we will be seeking around 60 seats.”
Mr. Pawar said that the three Congress MLAs who had voted for the NCP’s MLC candidates in the recently held elections would be joining the party. Besides, three Independents and two more MLAs are likely to join the NCP soon, he said.
Speaking to the media after the rally, Mr. Pawar informed that the Mahayuti alliance partners — BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP — have completed the first round of negotiations for the 288 Assembly seats and will be meeting again soon. “The leaders of all three ruling allies will hold a press conference and inform the media about the seats. Elective merit will decide who will be nominated from a particular seat,” he said.
Senior BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar also agreed that the Mahayuti candidates will be finalised on the “winnability factor”. “In the Mahayuti, if one party takes certain seats forcibly and then loses, it will harm us. And therefore, the decision of which party gets which seats will be decided on elective merit. Leaders of all the three parties besides leaders of our other allies will take a decision in this regard,” the BJP leader said.
Refusing to react to Shiv Sena minister Tanaji Sawant’s negative comment about the alliance with NCP, Ajit Pawar said he has decided to focus on working for people and not to respond to anyone’s criticism. “I had decided at the start of the ‘Jansanman Yatra’ that I don’t want to criticise or comment against anyone. It doesn’t matter to me if someone speaks against me. I believe in my work and work for the people.”
Mr. Sawant, who is the state health minister, said in Dharashiv on Friday that he sits next to his NCP peers at the Maharashtra cabinet meetings, but feels like vomiting after coming out. After Sawant’s comment, NCP spokesperson Umesh Patil had demanded the minister’s sacking and urged his party’s leaders to quit the cabinet.
In Nagpur, Mr. Pawar visited the Deekshabhoomi, where Dr B.R. Ambedkar embraced Buddhism. He also took part in a two-wheeler rally at Katol near Nagpur, where he was scheduled to interact with farmers and women.
Mr. Pawar also attended the ‘Ladki Bahin Yojana’ event at Reshimbagh, where the RSS headquarter is situated, along with chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. After the programme, Mr. Shinde and Mr. Fadnavis visited the memorials of RSS leader Keshav Baliram Hedgewar and Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar — the first and second ‘Sarsanghchalak’.