Sharad Pawar optimistic about NCP (SP)’s victory in Maharashtra Assembly Election: ‘If Lok Sabha poll work is repeated…’

Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024: Nationalist Congress Party (SP) president Sharad Pawar on Wednesday expressed confidence that the Maha Vikas Agadhi (MVA) will make a comeback in the crucial Maharashtra legislative assembly elections scheduled to be held later this year. Piggybacking on the MVA's triumph in the Maharashtra Lok Sabha elections, Sharad Pawar said the NCP (SP) would return to power in the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha elections.

The MVA, which comprises the broken factions of NCP and Shiv Sena (UBT), seemed to have gained the trust of the Maharashtra voter base after going through a tumultuous political phase in the last five years, as was evident in the Lok Sabha elections.

On Wednesday, Sharad Pawar said that once back in power, the NCP would resolve the farmers' issue in Maharashtra. Notably, analysts have attributed the downfall of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena, and the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP in the Lok Sabha polls to an angry farmer voter base.

Sharad Pawar made these remarks while interacting with farmers at Nira Wagaj in Pune district's Baramati.

"Both the governments (at the Centre and state) are not ruled by us. But (state) elections are around the corner. We have seen how work was done in the Lok Sabha polls. If such work is repeated in the state assembly elections, I cannot see how the reins of state government will not come into our hands," Sharad Pawar said.

"All the issues of farmers can be resolved if the power of the state government comes into our hands," he added.

Expressing concern about water pollution in the Nira River of Pune district, Sharad Pawar blamed the sugar factories for river water contamination. Pawar announced plans to initiate discussions with state and central governments to tackle the issue effectively.

Maharashtra Lok Sabha Elections 2024 Result

In the recently held Lok Sabha elections for the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, the Congress won 13 seats, a quantum jump from the solitary seat it won in the state in 2019. The Shiv Sena (UBT) bagged nine and the NCP (SP) clinched eight seats. 

In the seat-sharing deal for the general elections, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) had the largest share of seats among the three parties, as it contested 21 seats, followed by the Congress at 17 and the NCP(SP) at 10.

(With inputs from agencies)