‘Maya, SP rely on our rebels to win’

Nationalist Congress Party chief and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar is candid enough to admit the biggest roadblock in an agreeable allia...

Nationalist Congress Party chief and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar is candid enough to admit the biggest roadblock in an agreeable alliance between NCP and Congress, and its victory in the Assembly polls, is seat-sharing.

‘‘If the Congress and NCP resolve the issue of seat distribution, we can safely claim a majority in the Assembly elections,” Pawar told The Indian Express.

Pawar brushed off the damage potential of Mayawati’s BSP — the BSP had walked away with a chunk of votes in Vidarbha and Marathwada regions in the Lok Sabha elections. ‘‘The BSP’s influence is restricted to Bhandara, Chandrapur, Wardha and Ramtek LS seats. This would mean 24 Assembly constituencies, and the reason the party got votes is because Mayawati gave tickets to all Congress rebels…Both parties (BSP and SP) depend on this strategy…that is why they are irrelevant in Maharashtra.’’

Pawar scoffs at the impact of the Veer Savarkar issue too. ‘‘Savarkar couldn’t get a seat in Maharashtra in his life, so where is the question now?’’ On ‘‘tainted ministers’’, Pawar says Laloo Prasad Yadav and the RJD can’t be isolated. ‘‘It is a north-Indian phenomenon…once you get elected, the issue does not arise.’’

The police said that Kumar, a resident of Turbhe MIDC in Navi Mumbai, was driving his concrete mixer truck when it collided with an SUV.

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