On Wednesday, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Sharad Pawar suggested that a report in the RSS-linked Marathi weekly, ‘Vivek,’ is subtly urging Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar to exit the ruling alliance in Maharashtra. This claim, reported by PTI, highlights the growing tensions within the state’s political landscape.
The RSS-affiliated publication ‘Vivek’ criticized the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for its alliance with the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, stating that this partnership has turned voter sentiment against the BJP in Maharashtra, leading to a poor performance in recent elections.
An informal survey conducted by the publication indicated that BJP members and the general public disapproved of the alliance. Ajit Pawar had previously split from his uncle Sharad Pawar’s NCP to join the ‘Mahayuti’ coalition with the BJP in July last year.
The BJP’s performance in Maharashtra, a state that sends 48 members to the Lok Sabha, saw a significant decline. In the latest Lok Sabha elections, the BJP secured only nine seats, while its allies, the Shiv Sena and the NCP, won seven and one seats, respectively. In contrast, the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (SP), and the Congress, secured 30 out of the 48 seats.
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NCP (SP) spokesperson Clyde Crasto on Wednesday asserted that the BJP has realized its alliance with the Ajit Pawar-led faction could be detrimental in the upcoming Assembly elections in Maharashtra. “The fact of the matter is that the people of Maharashtra have voted largely in favour of the NCP (SP). The BJP is also trading cautiously in the whole issue because it wants to win the elections. But its alliance with deputy CM Ajit Pawar-led NCP is going to make them lose the elections, like in the Lok Sabha polls… the article in the weekly (Vivek) is one of the ways they are trying to distance themselves from Ajit Pawar and probably asking him to leave (Mahayuti) in one way or the other,” Crasto stated, as reported by PTI.
Crasto further claimed that voters have not accepted the BJP’s alliances with either the NCP or the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. “The decision to bring Ajit Pawar on board has caused trouble for the BJP, resulting in the party losing several Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra. This is the current reality in the electoral politics of Maharashtra. It seems the people have not accepted the BJP partnering with the NCP and, similarly, with Shinde-led Shiv Sena,” he added.
