Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on April 20 said the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra will win more than 50% of the Lok Sabha seats in the State.
There are 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra. As per the seat-sharing agreement among the three MVA parties, the Shiv Sena (UBT) is contesting 21 seats, the Congress 17 and the NCP (SP) 10. These three parties are fighting the national elections as part of the Opposition INDIA bloc.
Talking to reporters Ahmednagar, Mr. Pawar said there could be disagreements among the INDIA bloc partners over certain seats, but attention should not be paid to it.
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The broader understanding among the Opposition parties is to win the polls to provide a stable government, he said.
He termed as wrong the BJP's 'Abki baar, 400 paar' slogan of winning 400-plus seats in the Lok Sabha polls.
The Opposition won six seats in Maharashtra in the 2019 parliamentary polls — four by the undivided NCP and one each by the Congress and the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) each.
"This election will see a rise in this number. We will win more than 50% seats in Maharashtra," Mr. Pawar said.
Hitting back at Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Mr. Pawar said instead of the BJP leader asking him the account of his work, he should do the same as his government has been in power for the last two years.
Mr. Pawar also blamed intense heat for the lower turnout in the five seats in the State, where polling was held in the first phase.
He, however, also said that it was necessary to ponder over the lack of enthusiasm shown by the voters. He said the entire world knows his work as the Union Agriculture Minister of the country from 2004 to 2014.
Attacking the BJP, Mr. Pawar also said never ever in the past there was such misuse of Central agencies, and cited the arrests of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren.
Published - April 20, 2024 04:01 pm IST
