Mumbai: In a statement that rattled the ruling BJP-led Maha Yuti-NDA’ rank and files, veteran politician Sharad Pawar on Thursday claimed that the Maha Vikas Aghadi-I.N.D.I.A. opposition bloc would get 30-35 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
The 83-year-old Pawar’s claim has boosted the morale of the opposition camp amid heavy attacks from BJP and its allies - Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP.
“In the 2019 elections, the NCP got four seats, the Congress and AIMIM got one seat each. The total seats that the opposition got was six,” said Pawar, who now heads NCP (SP).
“However, from the current trends (vis-a-vis the three phases of polling), the Maha Vikas Aghadi could get 30-35 seats,” Pawar said about Congress, NCP (SP) and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT).
The Shiv Sena (UBT) is contesting 21 seats, Congress 17 and NCP 10 as part of the seat-sharing agreement.
“The first three phases of polling in the country seem to have unnerved Prime Minister Narendra Modi. That’s why after the second phase, he changed his political strategy by directly naming the Muslim community. He apparently feels that now something can be done by invoking such religious issues,” said Pawar.
“Modi’s supporters are apprehensive that his position (as PM) is under threat,” he added.
Published 09 May 2024, 17:30 IST