‘No need’ for MVA to have CM face in poll-bound Maharashtra, says Sharad Pawar

“The candidate will be decided on the basis of which party wins the most number of seats within the alliance,” the veteran reiterated at an event in Kolhapur.

Sharad Pawar on Wednesday virtually ruled out that the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) will have a declared candidate for the chief minister's post in poll-bound Maharashtra, saying that there was ‘no need’ for it to contest the upcoming assembly election with a CM face.

Sharad Pawar (File Photo/HT)

“The decision on who will be the chief minister can be made after the poll results. The candidate will be decided on the basis of which party wins the most number of seats within the alliance,” Pawar told reporters in Kolhapur.

The MVA is made up of Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar), Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and Congress.

The Congress and NCP (SP) have repeatedly rejected Shiv Sena (UBT)'s pitch to have its supremo Uddhav Thackeray as their alliance's nominee for the CM's chair. Formed in November 2019, the MVA governed Maharashtra till June 2022, when the Thackeray-led government collapsed following a rebellion by Eknath Shinde, who also split the then-united Shiv Sena.

Shinde is the chief minister of Maharashtra, having succeeded Uddhav in the top post with support from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Meanwhile, veteran politician Pawar, himself an ex-CM of the western state, also stated that according to him, the election process would be over by the 'second week of November.'

The Election Commission is yet to announce dates for assembly polls in Maharashtra.

“MVA leaders should sit for talks beginning September 7 to 9. Discussions should also include Peasants and Workers Party, Communist Party of India, and Communist Party of India (Marxist) as well. These parties have some pockets of influence in the state,” the former Union minister said.

(With PTI inputs)