Pune: NCP founder Sharad Pawar criticised the Mahayuti government, and especially Cabinet Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, on Wednesday alleging that the government did not take any assistance from the opposition in the initial stages of the Maratha agitation and now, is suddenly holding the opposition responsible for the tension in various parts of the state.
Sharad Pawar was speaking to the media in Pune and also openly targeted the Congress party, explaining how there was cross-voting in the recent MLC polls and how his party was disappointed to see Congress votes getting split.
NCP (SP) Chief Sharad Pawar Openly Expresses His Disappointment
This is the first time Sharad Pawar has openly spoken about his disappointment with his alliance partners post-Lok Sabha polls and observers feel this was done so to put the state Congress leadership on the defensive ahead of seat-sharing talks for the assembly polls.
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Pawar had some observations to make about the recent Maharashtra Legislative Council polls, where Jayant Patil, the candidate he had supported lost the contest because of cross-voting by Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) members. It has now transpired that as many as seven votes of the Congress party may have gone to the ruling Mahayuti.
“We had expected that some Congress votes would go to Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Milind Narvekar and some would come to Jayant Patil of the Peasants and Workers Party (PWP), whom we had supported. But the Congress could not ensure this vote transfer to Patil. We are disappointed. They must find out what happened,” Pawar said.
Buzz About NCP (SP) leader Sharad Pawar Preparing To Put State Congress Leadership On The Defensive
Inside the Sharad Pawar NCP, there is buzz about how Pawar is now preparing to put the state Congress leadership on the defensive, ahead of the state assembly poll seat-sharing talks. Pawar is comfortable with the discussions between him and the central leadership of the Congress party but he is extremely uncomfortable with the state Congress leadership, as he considers the leaders to be his juniors and he has had issues with them in the past.
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Pawar’s remarks on Monday are seen as part of his strategy to present a picture that the Maharashtra Congress cannot put its house in order and there are differences among the leaders to such an extent that they could not even prevent cross-voting by Congress party MLAs in the MLC polls. It seems that Pawar wants Rahul Gandhi to send a message to the state Congress leadership that in the upcoming assembly poll campaign, he should generally hold the command of MVA in the state and also be given seats of his choice, especially in western Maharashtra including Pune and Satara districts, where NCP (SCP) wields political power.
Pawar also used the opportunity to target the BJP-led Mahayuti government in Maharashtra over its alleged ‘failure’ in handling the Maratha agitation issue.
“The agitation restarted last year. The state government sent various delegations to discuss solutions with agitators. The state sought to create the impression that it had found a solution. There was a celebration. All along, the opposition was never included in the process. No opposition leader was invited to any talks. Now that the government has discovered that its solution has not worked and there is tension in parts of the state, at this point, it wants the opposition to get involved. Cabinet Minister Chhagan Bhujbal met me and said I should take the initiative to convince the agitators. Why has the government thought of involving us at the last minute, like this. Why should we now be held responsible for the tension in some parts of the state?” Pawar asked.
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