Will ensure MVA contests assembly, Lok Sabha polls together: Sharad Pawar

Congress legislator Ravindra Dhangekar called on NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Monday after his victory in the assembly Kasba Peth byelection.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Monday said that he will ensure that the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) constituents contest the 2024 assembly and Lok Sabha elections as a team, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar said on Monday.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar addressing at an event in Sangli, India, on February 20 (HT File Photo/Uday Deolekar)

“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 said in response to questions from reporters in Pune after the newly elected Congress legislator Ravindra Dhangekar called on him.

Dhangekar, who was supported by the other MVA constituents, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP, sprung a surprise earlier this month when he snatched the Kasba Peth seat from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). This is the first time that the Congress won the Kasba Peth seat in three decades. The bypoll was necessitated due to the death of BJP lawmaker Mukta Tilak.

MVA leaders have showcased the Kasba Peth victory since then to underline that the three parties should contest the state and national elections.

Asked if the same principle will apply to the civic elections also, Sharad Pawar said his colleagues in the NCP are looking into this aspect.

“In the recent past, I have been to various areas. I am touring 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,” Pawar said.