NCP focus on north Maharashtra, Pawar holds parleys in Jalgaon

NCP is focusing on north Maharashtra, a stronghold of BJP, ahead of the 2022 elections. The party is targeting at least 10 seats from the Jalgaon district alone.

Mumbai: With the election slated to be held next year, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has already started its preparations in full swing. The party is focussing on north Maharashtra that has been a stronghold of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the last few years.

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On Friday, the party held a one-day workshop for the cadre at which NCP chief Sharad Pawar was also present.

Prior to that, Opposition leader Ajit Pawar and Maharashtra NCP president Jayant Patil held a road show in Amalner. They were part of a long cavalcade that took them to the venue of the workshop.

North Maharashtra has been a bastion of the BJP for quite some time and the NCP appears to be looking to invade it.

In 2020, the party inducted Eknath Khadse, a prominent leader of the BJP from north Maharashtra, who enjoys a significant hold in the region. He comes from Leva Patil, one of the OBC communities that has a sizable population in north Maharashtra.

In the last state assembly elections, the saffron alliance had secured more than 60% of the seats in the region. Of the total 35 assembly seats, the BJP secured victory in 13 seats and its then ally Shiv Sena had won six seats. In the state assembly polls held in 2014, the performance of the saffron alliance was better as together they had won 21 seats.

Among the opposition parties, the NCP’s performance is improving as it had won seven seats in the last assembly elections, two more than 2014.

In his address, Ajit asked the party leaders to work to win at least 10 seats from the Jalgaon district alone.

“We will have to get elected as many MLAs as possible if we want to bring good days for the people of the state. I was in Dhule and Nandurbar yesterday, there is not a single NCP MLA there. Only one MLA was elected in Jalgaon (in the last elections). Earlier, we used to have six MLAs.” Ajit told the gathering.

The NCP leaders believe that having Khadse on their side would help in improving their tally. “We want to improve our performance in the state assembly polls as the NCP leadership believes that the party can get the highest number of seats among the three MVA partners.

“In case the three-party coalition touches the magic figure, the party can have its own chief minister for the first time and Khadse can play a crucial role in this particular region,” said a senior NCP functionary.

He added the Leva Patil community is scattered in many parts of the state and Khadse will help consolidate their votes.

Khadse’s daughter in law and sitting BJP MP from Raver Lok Sabha constituency, Raksha Khadse can become the NCP’s candidate from the same in the upcoming general elections.

On June 21, the party will be celebrating its completion of 24 years in Mumbai by holding a gathering at Shanmukhananda Hall.