NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar.
Credit: PTI Photo
Pune: Amid Shiv Sena (UBT)'s push for the opposition MVA to declare its chief ministerial candidate in Maharashtra, Nationalist Congress Party (SP) president Sharad Pawar on Friday insisted no one from his party was interested in getting projected for the top post and instead they were focused on effecting a change of government in the poll-bound state.
He informed that seat-sharing talks among Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) constituents for the upcoming assembly polls were delayed due to the August 20 protest in Thane district's Badlapur over alleged sexual abuse of two minor girls in a school, and they will now be held on August 27.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) and the NCP (SP), along with the Congress, are part of the MVA, a state-level alliance of opposition parties.
Replying to a question on Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray insisting on the MVA projecting a CM face before the assembly polls, while the Congress taking a different stand on the issue, Pawar maintained as far as his party was concerned, no one was interested in being projected as the candidate for the top post.
"No one is interested (in being projected as CM face) from our party. No one is being projected from our party. We just want to bring a change in the government. We want to give a better administration to the people of the state by remaining on one page (with other MVA allies)," he argued.
Before the polls, Pawar asserted focus should be on providing an alternative to the ruling Mahayuti which consists of the BJP, the Shiv Sena and the NCP.
"As far as I am concerned, I am out of question and that is why there was no need to raise this issue (of CM face) now. Today, people want an alternative and let's focus on how to give that alternative to them," contended the veteran politician who has served as Maharashtra CM multiple times.
The Rajya Sabha MP said the MVA constituents should finalize seat-sharing at the earliest.
He said a meeting to discuss seat allocation among the allies was postponed due to the Badlapur incident and it will now take place on August 27.
"The key leaders from the MVA will sit together. My expectation from them is to take a decision on seats as early as possible and provide a clear picture to the people of the state," argued the NCP (SP) president.
Elections to the 288-member Maharashtra assembly are due before November-end.