20 June,2024 05:55 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Ajit Pawar. File Pic
The Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Thursday claimed Maharashtra's ruling Mahayuti alliance was "saved" in the Lok Sabha elections 2024 because of the "timely" entry of party leader Ajit Pawar, reported the PTI.
According to the PTI, NCP spokesperson Amol Mitkari wondered why attempts were being made by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena leaders to create a "discord" in the alliance.
Amol Mitkari was referring to Shiv Sena leader Ramdas Kadam's claim made at a function on Wednesday that Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar made a "backdoor entry" into the ruling alliance, the news agency reported on Thursday.
The Mahayuti which comprises of the Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, BJP and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP had won 17 out of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra in the recently-concluded Lok Sabha elections 2024.
The BJP won 9 seats, Shiv Sena 7 and NCP 1.
The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi, comprising the Congress, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) of Sharad Pawar, bagged 30 seats.
Ajit Pawar joined the Shiv Sena-BJP state government in July last year along with many other MLAs, leading to a split in the NCP founded by Sharad Pawar.
Ramdas Kadam on Wednesday had claimed Ajit Pawar made a "backdoor entry" into the ruling alliance.
"It would have been okay if he hadn't come for some days," the Shiv Sena leader said, as per the PTI.
Reacting to the comments, Amol Mitkari claimed, "You were saved because of the timely entry of Ajit Pawar, else you would have to go to the Himalayas."
'I am focused on Maharashtra Assembly Polls and development': Ajit Pawar
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar had last week said that his focused on development and the upcoming assembly polls.
Ajit Pawar's statement is said to be an attempt to sidestep questions related to an article in an RSS-linked publication that was critical of the BJP's alliance with the NCP.
When Ajit Pawar was asked about the article published in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-affiliated magazine 'Organiser' after the Lok Sabha poll results, the NCP president, said he does not want to speak on the issue. Pawar had joined the BJP- Shiv Sena alliance a year ago, reported PTI.
Responding to the questions asked about the article, he told the reports in Pune, "A lot of leaders are expressing their views and opinions after the polls. In a democracy, it is their right to express their opinions and I do not want to react to them. I have focused myself on development, how we can provide additional help and complete more development works. My attempt will be on how we, as Mahayuti, can face the state assembly polls with new energy."
(with PTI inputs)
