If we had numbers, wouldn’t have waited for anyone: Sharad Pawar on Maharashtra deadlock

The remarks came after Sena MP Sanjay Raut, who has been insisting that the next CM of the state would be from Sena, met Pawar for the second time in a week on Wednesday.

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There had been speculation over the past few days that the NCP may prop a Sena government if the latter decided to break its alliance with the BJP. Second-rung NCP leaders like Nawab Malik had claimed that anything was possible in Maharashtra and the onus of taking the initiative lay with the Sena.

Pawar, however, scotched all such rumours and said that he believed that BJP-Sena would finally come together. “BJP and Sena have been in an alliance for the last 25 years. I am sure that today or tomorrow, they will come together,” he added.

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He further said that he was not angling for the Maharashtra chief minister’s post. “I do not want to become the chief minister. After being the CM for four times, I don’t see the need for me to hold the post again. We do not have the mandate to form the government. If we had the numbers, we would not have waited for anyone.”

On supporting a Sena government, Pawar said that while Congress and NCP are allies and would take a decision jointly, he was not aware of Congress’s stand on the matter. He, however, added he doesn’t see the possibility of Congress and NCP forming a government as “we do not add up to even 100 seats”.– WITH PTI INPUTS