Maharashtra election: Poll outcome will reflect voters eagerness for political change, says Sharad Pawar

Sharad Pawar

NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday said the people of Maharashtra are eager for a political change and expressed confidence that the sentiment will be reflected in the outcome of the upcoming state assembly polls.

Addressing  the press with leaders of the other Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) constituents, Pawar claimed that the state administration, which was considered the best in the country, was demoralised under the Mahayuti regime.

"We want to make people free from the present government and I am confident they will support us," he said, adding that in the upcoming state elections, the MVA will repeat its Lok Sabha poll performance.

Answering a question on probable CM candidate for the upcoming assembly polls, Pawar said, "Whatever Uddhav Thackeray said about CM's face was quite clear and that is it...Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Scheme was cheating, there is no clarity of budgeting and financial provision for the scheme. If they can make clear and separate provisions for financial support for this scheme we won’t oppose it"

Pawar criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his recent remarks in Maharashtra that the Congress had done nothing for the Banjara community.

"He forgets that Vasantrao Naik, who belonged to the community, was the longest serving chief minister of the state," he said.

Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray said there is a difference of only 0.6 per cent in the vote share of the Congress and BJP in the recently held Haryana assembly polls, still the BJP got more seats.

"Why is the Jammu and Kashmir elections result not discussed? After the abrogation of Article 370 (which accorded special status to J&K), the party (BJP) should have swept the elections," he said.

Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole said people of the state will never accept a PM making political speeches at official functions. Pawar said the administration in Maharashtra was the best in the country.

"Now it is demoralised. The kind of decisions being taken recently are like making a mockery of the common man," he claimed.

"We are making a collective attempt to free people from this government and I hope people will support us," he said.

Thackeray said each move of the state government is looked upon with suspicion -- like the two arrests made in the case of murder of NCP leader Baba Siddique and even the killing of Badlapur sexual assault case accused Akshay Shinde in a police shootout.Mumbai has "two police commissioners" but still the city has seen a rise in incidents of crime, Thackeray claimed.

"Our aim is to defeat the government and not the projection of a CM face," Patole said.

(With PTI inputs)