With the Maharashtra Assembly elections approaching, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said on Sunday that people in the state are eager for political change and expressed confidence that this will be reflected in the election results.
Speaking at a press conference in Mumbai with leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), Pawar claimed that the state administration, once considered the best in the country, has become demoralised under the Mahayuti government.
“We want to make people free from the present government and I am confident they will support us,” he said, adding that the MVA aims to replicate its Lok Sabha election performance in the upcoming state elections.
The Mahayuti alliance includes the Shiv Sena, led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the BJP, and Ajit Pawar’s faction of the NCP.
Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray noted that there was only a 0.6 percent difference in vote share between the Congress and BJP in the recent Haryana assembly elections, yet the BJP won more seats. “Why is the Jammu and Kashmir elections result not discussed? After the abrogation of Article 370 (which accorded special status to J&K), the party (BJP) should have swept the elections,” he said, PTI reported.
Pawar slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his comments in Maharashtra, claiming that Congress had done nothing for the Banjara community. “He forgets that Vasantrao Naik, who belonged to the community, was the longest serving chief minister of the state,” he claimed.
Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole added that the people of the state will not accept a PM making political speeches at official functions.
Pawar claimed that Maharashtra’s administration was once the best in the country but is now demoralised. ” “The kind of decisions being taken recently are like making a mockery of the common man,” he said, adding, “We are making a collective attempt to free people from this government and I hope people will support us.”
Thackeray stated that each action of the state government is viewed with suspicion, citing the recent arrests in the murder case of NCP leader Baba Siddique and the police shootout of Akshay Shinde, a suspect in a sexual assault case. Mumbai has “two police commissioners” but still the city has seen a rise in incidents of crime, Thackeray said.
When asked about the MVA’s chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming elections, Thackeray said the contest will be between the opposition alliance and the ruling Mahayuti. “Let the Mahayuti announce its CM face, MVA will follow suit,” he said.
(With PTI Inputs)