After a strong showing in the Lok Sabha elections, NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar is now targeting a bigger prize: the control of Maharashtra in the upcoming assembly elections. Pawar stressed the importance of winning the state assembly polls to achieve this goal.
The Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) came into existence after Sharad Pawar’s nephew Ajit Pawar split the NCP and walked away with MLAs to join the BJP-led Mahayuti. The two factions of the NCP fought each other in this national election.
The NCP led by Sharad Pawar exceeded expectations by winning eight out of 10 Lok Sabha seats it contested in Maharashtra. His daughter Supriya Sule secured her fourth consecutive victory in the high-stakes family contest for the Baramati seat, defeating her cousin Ajit Pawar’s wife, Sunetra Pawar.
With the Lok Sabha elections done, Pawar has shifted his focus to the assembly elections, actively engaging with constituents in Baramati. During a meeting in Shirsuphal village, Pawar said that the people of the Baramati constituency remained reserved during the election period.
“I asked them not to worry and said that even if they are not expressing themselves, they will press the right button (of EVMs). And the same thing happened. When the EVMs were opened, the magic was seen as you people voted in large numbers,” he said.
Supriya Sule defeated Sunetra Pawar by a margin of 1.58 lakh votes, securing 7,32,312 votes against Sunetra’s 5,73,979.
Pawar called for unity in the state assembly elections as well. “In the next three to four months, state elections are taking place. Come what may, it will be my endeavour to take control of the state. To achieve this, we must win the assembly polls,” he added.
Sharad Pawar recalled his extensive political career, including four terms as Chief Minister of Maharashtra, a decade as Union Agriculture Minister, and two years as Defence Minister. “All these things can happen when your collective power is there. The issues you have put forth before me, I will try and resolve them. However, I cannot give assurances now because a different government is in place. But after four months, we can certainly resolve these issues,” he said.
In the last assembly elections, the NCP and Congress contested together and won 98 seats, while the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance secured 161 out of 288 seats. However, disagreements over the Chief Minister’s post led Shiv Sena, which had 56 seats, to form a government with Congress and NCP as part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance.
The BJP has urged Uddhav Thackeray to reflect on his party’s performance in the Lok Sabha polls. BJP’s Chandrakant Patil said that despite Thackeray’s efforts during the campaign, Congress and NCP (SP) benefitted more. Uddhav’s Sena won only nine out of 21 seats it contested, while Congress secured 13 of 17 and NCP won eight of 10.
