Ajit Pawar says NCP to contest 4 Pune seats, 1 for ‘friendly party’, Congress says unacceptable

The city Congress reacted immediately, saying the formula was unacceptable to them. “If NCP will contest four seats, we will also contest the same number of seats. We don’t understand which friendly party he is talking about… The friendly parties do not have a strong presence in the city,” said Congress spokesperson Ramesh Iyer.

The Congress also objected to NCP taking over Parvati seat. “We have strong candidates like Abu Bagul, Sachin Tawre and others for Parvati seat. It should go to Congress. NCP can keep Kothrud seat with it,” Iyer said.

The Congress, meanwhile, said Pawar must have made the announcement in his personal capacity and it was not the NCP’s official view. “The seat-sharing formula will be discussed by senior leaders from both the parties, who will then make the announcement,” said a Congress leader.

NCP MP Vandana Chavan, however, said the announcement made by Pawar was a joint decision of Congress-NCP. “The decision is final,” she said.

Stating that NCP-Congress should make strong efforts to win all eight seats in Pune, Chavan hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, saying people of Maharashtra have suffered a lot during their regime. “There is industrial slowdown, farmer suicides continue unabated and women continue to face humiliation and injustice. We need to work harder to ensure that our party comes to power,” she said.

In 2014 Assembly polls, the BJP had won all eight Pune seats. The Congress, NCP, BJP and Sena had contested separately after their bid to form alliances failed.

Pawar also revealed party’s strategy regarding nominating candidates. “Till the BJP-Sena announce the names of candidates, we will not announce our candidates,” he said.

Pointing out the water shortage in the city, Pawar said when he was the district guardian minister, he had ensured that residents did not face water cuts. “Now, even when rivers are overflowing and dams are full, residents are facing water cuts. This shows the failure of the BJP-Sena regime,” he said.

Stating that in last five years the government has burdened itself with Rs 5 lakh crore loan, Pawar said, “The government spent months discussing whether the Pune Metro should be underground or elevated…Not a single new project came up in Pune. On CM’s ‘Mahajanadesh yatra’, people threw eggs and showed black flags. Even as Sangli-Kolhapur faced floods, the CM was busy with his yatra.”

Addressing another rally at Kalewadi in Pimpri-Chinchwad, Pawar said the NCP would contest all three seats of Pimpri, Chinchwad and Bhosari. However last week, senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan had said that the Congress was pressing for one of the three seats.