MVA allies should contest 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections together: Pawar

NCP chief Sharad Pawar said he feels the three Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA allies Shiv Sena NCP and Congress should fight the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections together but a decision on it will be taken only after the issue is discussed with the leaders of his party as well as the alliance partnersOn the decision to rename Aurangabad and Osmanabad districts taken in the last cabinet meeting of the Uddhav Thackerayled government Pawar said the issue was not part of the MVAs common minimum programme and he came to know about the decision only after it was taken Pawar who is on twoday tour of Aurangabad was speaking to reporters here Responding to a query whether the MVA parties should fight the next assembly elections in the state together Pawar said It is my personal wish that the MVA constituents should contest the future polls togetherBut this is my personal opinion I will first have a discuss the issue with my party leaders and talks can then be held with the alliance partnersThe MVA government led by Thackeray collapsed on June 29 days after his party Shiv Sena faced a rebellion launched by senior leader Eknath Shinde On June 30 Shinde took oath as the chief minister while BJPs Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as his deputy Shinde enjoys the support of 40 rebel Sena MLAs Taking a dig at the rebel Sena MLAs over the reasons cited by them for their revolt Pawar said The dissident legislators dont give any fixed reason Sometimes they talk about Hindutva sometimes about funds Following their revolt the rebel MLAs have been saying that they went against the Sena leadership as the party was going away from the cause of Hindutva Some of them also talked about not getting funds for their constituenciesAll reasons Hindutva NCP and lack of development funds given by the rebel Sena legislators as explanation for their decision holds no meaning the NCP supremo said Pawar claimed that he was absolutely unaware of the decision to rename Aurangabad and Osmanabad as Sambhanjinagar and Dharashiv respectively Renaming these places was not part of the common minimum programme of the MVA I came to know only after the decision was taken It was taken without prior consultation Opinions were expressed by our people during the cabinet meeting over the proposal But the decision was that of the then chief minister Thackeray Pawar said Had any decisions about Aurangabads welfare been taken people would have been happy he added Talking about the speculation that some Congress MLAs in Goa may cross over to the ruling BJP the former Union minister asked how can one forget what happened in Karnataka Madhya Pradesh and in MaharashtraAccording to me it took a long time for Goa he said When asked about the delay in the formation of the Shindeled governments cabinet he said it could be because of the Supreme Courts hearing scheduled on Monday The Supreme Court will hear the plea of Shiv Sena chief whip Sunil Prabhu seeking suspension from assembly of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and 15 rebel MLAs against whom disqualification pleas are pending The vacation bench of the court had on June 27 granted interim relief to the Shinde faction by extending the time for replying to the disqualification notices sent to 16 rebel Sena MLAs till July 12 But Pawar declined to speculate on the apex courts verdict on the petitions of disqualification of rebel MLAs and the Thackerayled Sena challenging the floor test I have faith in judiciary The court will decide tomorrow to whom the Shiv Sena belongs he said He also refused to predict how long the Shindeled government will last Lets see how the government takes decisions he saidReplying to a query about the proposal to appoint twelve members to the Legislative Council pending with Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari Pawar said The MVA government kept persuading the governor for allowing speakers election for a year On the contrary he took a decision about the new government within 48 hours he said The governor will now appoint the twelve members In fact discussion on it is also taking place Pawar added Responding to a query about Uddhav Thackeray s leadership qualities Pawar said his illhealth put restrictions on his movement I dont think Uddhav Thackeray will go with the BJP he said when asked about reports of Milind Narvekar Thackerays close aide meeting FadnavisThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever