Ajit Pawar's NCP to contest Maharashtra civic polls alone? Deputy CM says…
Maharashtra civic polls: The schedule for elections to municipal councils, nagar panchayats and zilla parishads is not yet out
Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar has said that the members of the ruling ‘Mahayuti’ alliance including his Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), are free to contest local polls independently.
Addressing the NCP workers in Pimpri Chinchwad, Pawar was quoted by PTI as saying,"Even though we are allies in Lok Sabha and state assembly, Mahayuti members are free to contest local bodies polls independently."
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The schedule for elections to municipal councils, nagar panchayats and zilla parishads is not yet out.
The ‘Mahayuti’ alliance also comprises the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and chief minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
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The 64-year-old leader last year rebelled against his uncle Sharad Pawar, splitting the latter's NCP into two and led his loyalists to join the ruling ‘Mahayuti’ alliance. Ajit Pawar is currently the deputy chief minister in the Shinde-led government.
Earlier this year, the Election Commission recognised his faction as the real NCP, and allotted the clock symbol to him. Ajit Pawar's NCP contested the Lok Sabha elections in an alliance with the ‘Mahayuti’ partners BJP and Shiv Sena.
However, the ruling alliance suffered a setback as it could win just 17 out of 48 seats in Maharashtra. The BJP won nine seats, down from 23 in the previous general elections. The Shiv Sena won seven while Ajit Pawar's NCP could win just one.
Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra lost to his cousin sister Supriya Sule in Sharad Pawar's bastion Baramati.
In a spectacular performance in the parliamentary polls, the MVA managed to clinch 30 out of 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra.
Recently, 28 NCP leaders from Pune, including the Pimpri-Chinchwad unit's city president and two former corporators, quit the Ajit Pawar-led party after its dismal performance in the Lok Sabha elections to join the NCP (SP).
“They [the Mahayuti government] have not solved people's problems despite coming to power. We want to take the Vidhan Sabha back,” NCP(SP) chief Sharad Pawar was quoted by PTI as saying.
(With PTI inputs)