Mumbai, Oct 13 (PTI) NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday said the people of Maharashtra are eager for a political change and this sentiment will be reflected in the upcoming state assembly polls.
Speculations were rife that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) constituents may declare a seat-sharing formula for the assembly elections in a joint press conference.
At the presser, Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole stressed that projecting a Chief Ministerial face was not an immediate priority for the opposition bloc, a position at variance with Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhhav Thackeray’s demand to declare a CM face.
Pawar claimed that the state administration considered the best in the country, was demoralised under the Mahayuti regime.
Separately, the opposition parties said the murder of NCP leader and former minister Baba Siddique was shocking and shameful for the state and claimed there was anarchy in Mumbai.
To a question on the MVA’s chief ministerial face for the state elections which are expected to be held next month, Thackeray said the polls will be a contest between the opposition alliance and the ruling Mahayuti.
“Let the Mahayuti announce its CM face, MVA will follow suit,” he said.
Pawar and Patole said Thackeray has articulated the MVA’s position on the issue.
“We aim to defeat the government and not the projection of a CM face,” Patole said.
The opposition bloc, meanwhile, released a document listing the Eknath Shinde government’s “betrayal of Maharashtra in favour of neighbouring Gujarat”.
MVA leaders claimed the ‘gaddarancha panchnama’ (evidential record on traitors) lists the state government’s “rate card for the purchase of MLAs and corporators, transfer of government officials, recruitment in government jobs” as well as scams in the Dharavi redevelopment project, (Mumbai) road concretisation and tenders.
“We want to make people free from the present government and I am confident they will support us,” Pawar said, adding that in the upcoming state elections, the MVA will repeat its Lok Sabha poll performance.
The Mahayuti comprises the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, BJP and Ajit Pawar’s NCP.
Thackeray wondered how BJP won more seats than Congress in Haryana elections despite only a 0.6 per cent difference in the vote share between the two parties.
Pawar criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his recent remarks in Maharashtra that the Congress had done nothing for the Banjara community.
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. 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 murder of NCP leader Baba Siddique and even the killing of Badlapur sexual assault case accused Akshay Shinde in a police shootout.
“It is not just me and Sharad Pawar betrayed by traitors (a reference to the splits in the Shiv Sena and NCP) but Maharashtra itself has faced betrayal. This is the biggest sin of the Mahayuti (the ruling alliance of Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena, BJP and Ajit Pawar-led NCP),” Thackeray said.
Patole alleged the Shinde government had indulged in corruption even in the construction of the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, a revered figure, while crimes against women were rising, which is the ruling alliance’s “gravest sin”.
Earlier in the day, Sharad Pawar demanded the “rulers” of Maharashtra step down while accepting moral responsibility for the collapse of law and order in the context of Baba Siddique’s murder.
The Congress demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde over Siddique’s murder.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, in a post on X, said the tragic demise of Sddique is shocking beyond words.
“In this hour of grief, I offer my deepest condolences to his family, friends and supporters. Justice must be ensured, and the present Maharashtra Govt must order a thorough and transparent investigation. The culprits must be brought to book at the earliest. Accountability is paramount,” he said.
AICC in-charge of Maharashtra Ramesh Chennithala claimed Siddique’s murder shows there is “complete anarchy in Mumbai.” Leader of Opposition in the assembly Vijay Wadettiwar wrote to the Mumbai police commissioner, claiming Siddique had received a threat to his life 15 days ago, and his killers are 19 to 20 years old.
Shiv Sena UBT leader Sanjay Raut called for the resignation of Deputy Chief Minister and state Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Patole said the ideology that opposed the coronation of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is in power in Maharashtra.
“The Shinde-Fadnavis government has tarnished the legacy of Maharashtra, which is proud of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Shahu Maharaj, Mahatma Phule, and Dr BR Ambedkar,” he said.
Thackeray said, “When Shiv Sena leader Abhishek Ghosalkar was murdered, Devendra Fadnavis had said that ‘even if a dog comes under a car, the opposition will demand the home minister’s resignation’. This government considers people as dogs.” He said the Mahayuti has turned Maharashtra into a colony of Gujarat, but the MVA will not allow Modi and Amit Shah to take over the state of Shivaji, Shahu, Phule, and Ambedkar. PTI MR VT ARU GK BNM NSK
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