With just three months to go for the Maharashtra Assembly elections and amid speculations that some MLAs from the Mahayuti are planning to switch over to Sharad Pawar's NCP, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar convened a meeeting with NCP legislators on Thursday where they were asked to increase their outreach to Muslim and Dalit communities in the wake of the electoral loss suffered by the party and the National Democratic Alliance in Maharashtra in the recently held Lok Sabha elections. The MLAs have also been asked to increase communication with the politically influential Maratha community after MLAs gave feedback about the community's anger towards the ruling alliance of Mahayuti comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena and the NCP, a senior leader of the party said. The MLAs were also asked to take the farming community into confidence on issues relating to onions, soyabean and cotton, which impacted the poll prospects of the NDA in the general elections. MLAs attending the meeting called for the need for the state government to roll out schemes with hefty financial allocation to help the Maratha, Dalit and Muslim communities, apart from allaying their fears about the change in the Constitution. At least six MLAs were absent from the meeting. However, the NCP clarified that all MLAs had informed the leadership about the absence. The meeting lasted for more than three hours as all MLAs were asked to explain their experience of the recently held Lok Sabha elections and plans for the upcoming Assembly polls. The MLAs who were absent include Sunil Tingre, Rajendra Shingne, Anna Bansode, Babandada Shinde, Deputy speaker Narhari Zirwal and Minister Dharmarao Atram. According to party spokesperson Umesh Patil, Shinde and Atram were ill while Shingne and Bansode had conveyed their inability to attend the meeting due to prior commitments. Zirwal is presently in Russia on official tour. Tingre, who chose to not come in front of media, was discussed during the Pune Porsche hit-and-run case. Earlier in the day, NCP ministers held a special meeting to discuss the Lok Sabha election results where reasons for the party's poor performance and way ahead for the Assembly elections was discussed. Each minister has been asked to submit a review report of the reasons for the party's defeat and asked to suggest ways to rectify the mistakes. Sources mentioned that the NCP is also likely to ask for cabinet expansion. "Today we called all the MLAs to discuss Lok Sabha polls and reasons for not winning as many seats as we expected. No MLA from our side is going anywhere. Instead, some MLAs from Sharad Pawar group are in touch with Congress," said NCP leader Sunil Tatkare. Commenting on the demand for cabinet expansion, Tatkare claimed that the decision will be taken by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and two deputy Chief Ministers. On Thursday, NCP-SP chief Sharad Pawar held a meeting with newly elected Lok Sabha MPs from Maharashtra. When asked about a few MLAs from Ajit Pawar's NCP wanting to switch to their side, the party's Maharashtra chief Jayant Patil refused to comment. "It is true that my phone is very much busy these days but I have nothing to say on this issue right now," he said. Patil mentioned that his party respects the people's mandate as people have voted for new MPs of the party. "We are sure that the voters of Maharashtra will respect and support us in Assembly elections as well," he said.
