Ahead of Maharashtra assembly polls, Ajit Pawar meets Shah in Delhi

Mumbai: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who heads the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), has held a meeting with Union Home Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Shah in Delhi.

Sources close to Pawar confirmed the development and said the meeting took place late on Wednesday night.

Pawar is likely to make another visit on July 28, they said.

The meeting assumes significance as the ruling Mahayuti alliance, comprising the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, BJP and NCP, is set to begin its seat-sharing talks for the Maharashtra assembly polls likely to be held in October this year.

In this year's Lok Sabha elections, the NCP contested four seats, but managed to win just one. Pawar's wife Sunetra, who contested from the Baramati seat, was defeated by sitting MP Supriya Sule, the daughter of veteran leader Sharad Pawar, who heads the NCP (SP). Sunetra Pawar was later elected as a Rajya Sabha member unopposed.

Pawar joined the Eknath Shinde-led state government in July 2023 and became deputy chief minister.

In the recent past, some BJP leaders and the RSS have blamed the inclusion of Ajit Pawar and his NCP in the Mahayuti as one of the reasons for the ruling alliance's poor show in the Lok Sabha polls.

'Vivek', a weekly publication affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) recently published an article, which said that public sentiments turned sharply against the BJP following its alliance with the Ajit Pawar-led NCP that subsequently led to bad performance of the saffron party in the Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra.

Pawar has earlier said his party has been assured a Rajya Sabha berth that fell vacant after sitting MP Udayanraje Bhosale was elected to the Lok Sabha.