DEPUTY Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Tuesday announced that his party, NCP, will allocate 10 per cent of the seats to minorities. In the Lok Sabha elections, the party had not given any tickets to minority candidates. "I have decided to allocate 10 per cent of the seats to minorities,'' Pawar announced in Parli, Beed district. This is the first time he has made any such announcement, NCP sources said. An NCP spokesperson said during the Lok Sabha polls, the party got only four seats to contest. "Out of the four seats, it was difficult to allocate any of them to minorities as the party did not have strong aspirants for any," he said, adding that minorities primarily include the Muslim community. Of the four seats, only one candidate, Sunil Tatkare, who is the party's state president, had won from the Raigad seat. Last week at a rally, Tatkare had said that the NCP was a secular party and that it had complained to the BJP's top leadership about its MLA Nitesh Rane's ''objectionable statements'' against the Muslim community. "We have conveyed our views to the BJP leadership.," Tatkare had said. Stating that a seat-sharing arrangement with the Mahayuti alliance partners hasn't been finalised as yet, Pawar on Tuesday emphasised that the seats which the party had won in 2019 elections would again be contested by it. NCP sources said the party is looking for 70-80 seats out of the 288. "Of the 70-80 seats, we will allocate 10 per cent to minorities, which is 7-8 seats. Most of the seats are in Mumbai," an NCP leader said. Ajit Pawar's Jan Sanman Yatra reached Majalgaon and Parli assembly constituencies in Beed district on Tuesday. Addressing a gathering at Mangalnath Maidan in Majalgaon, Ajit Pawar said “I pray that Mahayuti gets the opportunity to serve this region once again." He also said that the government has announced a significant increase in allowances for Home guards across the state, benefiting around 40,000 personnel. The daily wage, which was Rs 570, will now be increased to Rs 1,080. On the Maratha reservation issue, he said, “We are actively working on the Maratha reservation issue to ensure justice for everyone. Our efforts are focused on uplifting everyone.” Ajit Pawar appealed to voters to help the NCP and Mahayuti in the upcoming assembly elections. "We have the potential to attract significant funding to Maharashtra, similar to what Chandrababu Naidu and Nitish Kumar have achieved.” Speaking in Parli, his home constituency, Dhananjaya Munde thanked Ajit Pawar for giving him the opportunity to serve as a minister. “Ajit Dada was the only one who believed in my potential to make a difference for the people, when no one else did.” He also expressed his confidence in winning all the six constituencies in Beed district in the upcoming elections.
