Sharad Pawar Confident His Alliance Will Win 30-35 Seats in Maharashtra

Mumbai: NCP founder Sharad Pawar on Thursday predicted that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) will win 30-35 seats in Maharashtra. He said Congress will win 10-12 seats while his party will win eight-nine seats.

The MVA, which consists of Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar led NCP, is contesting 48 Lok Sabha seats against the BJP-led Mahayuti in Maharashtra. The Congress is contesting 17 seats, while NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT) are contesting 10 seats and 21 seats respectively.

Speaking with journalists in Satara district after the third phase of voting in the state, Mr. Pawar said that the Congress had got one seat in the last Lok Sabha election, while his party had got four seats. “This time, we are expected to get 30 to 35 Lok Sabha seats in the state,” he said.

Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over joining hands with Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray, Mr. Pawar said that Modi also requires help from someone in Mumbai, which tells a lot about his confidence.

Raj Thackeray is going to hold a joint public rally with Mr. Modi on May 17 at Shivaji Park in Dadar for six Lok Sabha seats in Mumbai.

On Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s accusation that the Congress takes money from Ambani and Adani, the NCP founder said that the country was discussing the friendship of the Prime Minister with the two industrialists.

In a response to a query over Ajit Pawar’s remark Sharad Pawar takes every decision in his own and later portrays it as a collective decision of the party, the NCP founder said that Ajit Pawar should run his outfit. “Why is he (Ajit) interfering at someone else’s party?," he asked.