Will ensure MVA jointly contests Maha assembly, LS polls: Pawar

Meanwhile, BJP state unit chief Chandrakant Bawankule said Pawar should re-analyse the Kasba Peth verdict to understand that “the victory was solely of candidate and not of MVA”.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Monday said the people in Maharashtra are looking for a change and will ensure that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (Grand Alliance) contest the assembly and Lok Sabha elections next year together.

Sharad Pawar (PTI)

Speaking to reporters in Pune, Pawar said his efforts will be to ensure that all MVA constituents – NCP, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and Congress – stick together and fight the two elections.

The NCP leader addressed the media after newly-elected Congress MLA from Kasba Peth assembly constituency in Pune, Ravindra Dhangekar, visited him at his residence.

“I am roaming in the state and the people are telling me that they want a change. They want us (the Opposition) to come together. These are people’s sentiments,” he said.

Meanwhile, BJP state unit chief Chandrakant Bawankule said Pawar should re-analyse the Kasba Peth verdict to understand that “the victory was solely of candidate and not of MVA”.

“Who has stopped Pawar from fighting upcoming polls in alliance as MVA. But before that Pawar should once again analyse the Kasba outcome. In Kasba Peth, votes Dhangekar garnered were of his own,” said Bawankule.

Despite attempts, Congress state unit chief Nana Patole could not be reached.

Earlier on Saturday, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut had said Dhangekar’s victory in the bypoll “was just a glimpse” and claimed the MVA can win over 200 assembly and 40 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra next year if the allies fight unitedly.

“My efforts will be to ensure that the constituents of MVA remain together, take joint decisions and face the state assembly and Lok Sabha elections together,” Pawar added.

However, when asked if a similar move is also expected in the civic polls, Pawar said his party colleagues are looking into this aspect.

The NCP leader addressed the media after newly-elected Congress MLA from Kasba Peth assembly constituency in Pune city, Dhangekar Ravindra Hemraj, visited him at his residence.

The recent Kasba Peth bypoll sprung a surprise after Hemraj secured more than 72,000 votes and managed to win by a margin of 11,000 votes against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Hemant Narayana Rasane’s 61,000 votes. This is the first time that the Congress has won the seat after 28 years, and is a shot in the arm for the embattled MVA.

After the poll result was announced on March 2, Pawar had said that the BJP’s defeat in its bastion indicated that winds of change were blowing across the country.

The MVA was formed after the 2019 Maharashtra assembly elections when Uddhav Thackeray fell out with old ally BJP. The MVA subsequently formed the government under Thackeray’s leadership.

However, in June last year, the MVA government collapsed, Thackeray lost his position as chief minister as well as control of a large chunk of the Shiv Sena following a rebellion by colleague Eknath Shinde and his loyalists.

Shinde was later sworn in as chief minister with the BJP’s backing.

Amid a split in the Sena, the Election Commission last month announced that the faction headed by Shinde is the real Sena and that the party name and symbol of ‘Bow and Arrow’ would be retained by his group.