Ground in Maharashtra 'very good' for Maha Vikas Aghadi: NCP after BJP debacle in Karnataka

Mumbai: NCP chief Sharad Pawar chairs the meeting of the party`s core committee at Yashwantrao Chavan Centre, in Mumbai, Wednesday, May 17, 2023

Nationalist Congress Party on Wednesday said that the ground in Maharashtra is very good for Maha Vikas Aghadi after Eknath Shinde split Shiv Sena to join hands with BJP. The Party discussed the overall political situation post the BJP debacle in Karnataka elections at a core committee meeting chaired by party president Sharad Pawar in Mumbai.

Talking to reporters after the meeting party's state president Jayant Patil said, "We and the people of the state are waiting for elections to be declared."

He said the experience of the 2019 Assembly polls - in which NCP had won 54 seats - tells us that booth committees in Assembly constituencies have helped the party perform better. "This time we will work to get booth committees set up at the earliest in all segments,' he added.

Briefing the media about the meeting, party's chief spokesperson Mahesh Tapase said the core committee of the NCP met under the chairmanship of Sharad Pawar in Mumbai. Affairs of the party organisation were extensively discussed and deliberated to prepare the NCP cadre for local and general elections.

"The political situation prevailing in Maharashtra and the country after the Karnataka elections was discussed. Organisational matters of NCP were also part of the deliberations,' he told reporters.

Tapase said internal organisational elections of NCP will be declared soon by senior leaders Jaiprakash Dandegaonkar and Dilip Walse Patil who have been appointed as returning officers for Maharashtra and Mumbai regions, respectively.

This was the first meeting of NCP leaders after the Karnataka verdict and assumes significance given that "Karnataka-like anti-incumbency prevails against the Shinde-Fadnavis government in Maharashtra", he said.

He said the schedule for NCP organisational elections in various districts of Maharashtra and Mumbai would be announced soon.

Former NCP ministers have been made in-charges of districts to oversee organisational affairs within the respective Lok Sabha and legislative assembly constituencies, he said.

Also read: Sharad Pawar holds meeting with NCP leaders for Lok Sabha, Assembly polls in Mumbai

"These leaders will extensively tour various assembly constituencies and bring in proper coordination amongst local leaders and party-affiliated frontal organisations. The party will appoint booth-level workers in every constituency within the next two months," Tapase added. (With inputs from Agencies)