Ajit Pawar, who rebelled against his uncle Sharad Pawar and became the head of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), has made a big statement about the ruling Mahayuti alliance. Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said that he joined the Mahayuti for the development agenda, but will not compromise on secular ideology. The ruling Mahayuti includes the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
In an interview to the Indian Express, Ajit Pawar insisted that his party will contest more than 60 seats as part of the Mahayuti alliance. He also dismissed rumors of a tussle over the chief minister’s post. Apart from this, Ajit Pawar also explained in detail about his decision to join the coalition government.
He said, “When we started discussing the alliance, we clearly said that our ideology is ‘secular’ and we will not compromise on it. But when you ask me such questions, I want to ask one thing. Shiv Sena was a staunch Hindutva party… But you (Congress and joint NCP) were in government with Shiv Sena for two and a half years… I was also a part of it. So why were such questions not asked then? Where was this secular ideology and progressive thinking then?…”
The deputy CM further said, “Now you are having problems when we have joined the (Mahayuti) government with the agenda of development. We joined with a clear stand that we will not compromise on our secular ideology. All NCP MLAs supported this alliance (with Shiv Sena and BJP)… Sharad Pawar also openly supported the BJP from outside to form the government in the state in 2014… The Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP government was formed only because of that outside support.” He said, “In 2017 also, the NCP had started talks with the BJP to join the NDA. Talks on departments and ministries were completed. Similarly, in 2019 also, a pre-poll alliance was discussed between the NCP and the BJP and talks were also held on seat sharing. All this is easily forgotten…”
Assembly elections are to be held in Maharashtra this year. Before that, discussions have started regarding the CM face of the Mahayuti alliance. When Ajit Pawar was asked whether the Mahayuti will have a CM face? He said, “No. First of all, the primary objective of the three parties (Shiv Sena, BJP and NCP) is to achieve the majority figure. After that we can think about the CM face. But the CM will definitely be from the Mahayuti.”
Regarding seat sharing in the alliance, he said, “We all believe that seat sharing should be based on merit. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and I will sit together and discuss each constituency and the party which has a strong hold on a particular constituency will get that seat… We had won 56 seats in the 2019 assembly elections and we have around six-seven independent MLAs with us. So we want to contest these 60 seats. But we will definitely demand more seats and it will be decided on the basis of electoral merit.”
