Sharad Pawar tells party workers to 'be ready' for Maharashtra Assembly Elections

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Sharad Pawar, who is the Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief, urged his party workers to be ready for the Maharashtra Assembly elections scheduled later this year, claiming that they will return to power in the state, according to reports from ANI.

Pawar, along with his daughter Supriya Sule, an MP from Baramati, and other party leaders, attended the NCP-SCP Foundation Day program on Monday in Pune.

On the occasion of the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the foundation of the party, Sharad Pawar while addressing his party workers, said, "Today I just want to say that in the last 25 years, we tried to spread out ideologies that will take the part ahead ...since elections are nearby, it is our collective responsibility to work towards the aim to work so that the power of the state will be in your hands after poll results," as reported by ANI.

Further hitting out at the BJP-led NDA government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as per reports from ANI, Pawar, referring to Lok Sabha polls results, claimed that PM Modi does not have the mandate.

Pawar added, "The country is going through a very different situation these days. ...if you see the election results, the mandate is not with Modi mandate and the number of their MPs has reduced. They got help from Bihar and the TDP. For the last five years, they ran the government as per their wishes. They did not hear to anyone; whatever they said used to become policy. This was the situation of them. Power was centralized, but now the situation has changed. Now power will not be centralised people has become very smart now."

Supriya Sule, who was also present at the event, said, "Pawar Saheb has spoken with Sonia Gandhi and Uddhav Thackeray and said we will give a strong fight in the upcoming Vidhan Sabha election."

Extending her wishes to the newly appointed ministers from Maharashtra in PM Modi's cabinet, Sule said, "I want them to work for the development of Maharashtra."

Pawar formed the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in 1999 after breaking away from the Congress. Last July, following political turmoil in the NCP, the party split into two after Ajit Pawar and some other MLAs joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government in the state.

However, in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar faction) managed to retain its political ground by standing as a member of the "Maha Vikas Aghadi" (MVA) coalition. Thirty of the forty-eight Lok Sabha seats in the state were won by the alliance; in Maharashtra, the NCP (SP) secured eight seats, the Congress thirteen, and the Shiv Sena (UBT) nine.

The 'Mahayuti' alliance suffered a blow, winning only 17 of the state's 48 Lok Sabha seats. Nine seats were won by the BJP, eight by the Shiv Sena (Shinde faction), and the NCP is an ally in the 'Mahayuti' coalition.