Last updated:
An NCP (SP) spokesman insisted that the publication linked to the RSS had written another article with similar content a few weeks earlier. (Ministry of Public Transport)
The saffron party lost ground in the recent Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra after the public sentiment turned sharply against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after its alliance with the National Congress Party in 2023, reports in the weekly Vivek said Poor performance.
Sharadchandra Pawar on Wednesday cited a report in an RSS-linked Marathi weekly suggesting that the BJP was sending a subtle message to Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. message, asking him to leave the ruling “Mahayuti” alliance in Maharashtra.
The saffron party lost ground in the recent Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra after the public sentiment turned sharply against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after its alliance with the National Congress Party in 2023, reports in the weekly Vivek said Poor performance.
NCP (SP) spokesperson Clyde Crasto told reporters here that the BJP hopes to win the upcoming assembly elections in Maharashtra after a setback in the Lok Sabha polls, but The saffron party realizes that a tie-up with the Ajit Pawar-led party will harm its prospects.
“The fact is that the people of Maharashtra voted largely for the SP. The BJP is also cautious on the entire issue as it wants to win the election.
“But its alliance with the NCP led by deputy minister Ajit Pawar will make them lose the election, just like in the Lok Sabha polls… The article in Vivek is their attempt to One of the ways that Jeet Pawar kept his distance and maybe asked him to leave (Mahayuti) in some way,” Krasto claimed.
An NCP (SP) spokesman insisted that the publication linked to the RSS had written another article with similar content a few weeks earlier.
Krastoo argued that Maharashtra voters are yet to accept the BJP's alliance with the NCP and the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
“The decision to bring Ajit Pawar on board spelled trouble for the BJP, causing the party to lose several Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra. This is the story of Maharashtra's electoral politics Current reality. People do not seem to have accepted the cooperation of the BJP with the NCP, nor with the Shiv Sena led by Shinde.
Krastoo maintained that the BJP has started to realize that bringing in Ajit Pawar, who will join the Shiv Sena-BJP government in July 2023, will cause trouble and that such cooperation will not allow it to win election.
Therefore, they (BJP) are looking for reasons to convey this message, the spokesperson said.
The weekly's report highlighted the dissatisfaction among BJP members and sympathizers over the alliance with the NCP, noting that it was a departure from the party's core values.
“Almost everyone who is a member of the BJP or affiliated with the Sangh Parivar (Sangh Parivar) has said that he is not in favor of the alliance between the BJP and the NCP (led by Ajit Pawar). Before writing this article, we had More than 200 industrialists, traders, doctors, professors and teachers interacted. The unrest within the party cadre over the alliance between the BJP and the NCP is just the tip of the iceberg.
In the recent Lok Sabha polls, the BJP's seat count in Maharashtra fell sharply to just nine from 23 in 2019, with its ally Shiv Sena bagging seven seats, while the National Communist Party (NCP), led by Deputy Minister Ajit Pawar, won in only one constituency.
In comparison, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which consists of Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (SP) and Congress, performed well, winning a total of 30 out of 48 seats.
The NCP, formed in 1999, suffered a split when Ajit Pawar and a section of party MLAs loyal to him joined the Shinde-led government.
(This report has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from United News Agency-PTI)
