Mumbai: Even as the results of the Lok Sabha polls are awaited, Deputy Chief Minister and NCP President Ajit Pawar got going and started planning for the ensuing Vidhan Sabha polls, which would be very crucial for his future post after the split with his uncle and mentor Sharad Pawar.
In the Lok Sabha polls, Ajit Pawar, who now commands the real NCP party and the iconic clock symbol, pitted his wife Sunetra Pawar against Sharad Pawar’s daughter and NCP (SP) Working President Supriya Sule from the family seat of Baramati, which the latter had represented three times.
The NCP, which is part of the BJP-led Maha Yuti (NDA) has contested four seats - Baramati, Maval, Shirur and Raigad as against NCP (SP), which has contested 10 seats as part of the Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (I.N.D.I.A) opposition bloc.
“Election is a test of workers. No one should be hysterical about an election victory, nor should one be disheartened by defeat,” Ajit Pawar said on Monday while addressing a gathering of party leaders and workers in Mumbai.
This is the first big meeting of any Maharashtra party which held a meeting after the five-phase elections in this western Indian state - which has seen two big splits in political parties June-July 2022 in Shiv Sena headed by Uddhav Thackeray and June-July 2023 in the NCP led by Sharad Pawar.
Thackeray and Ajit Pawar are top leaders of the opposition bloc which is taking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
According to Ajit Pawar, the party organisation would be further strengthened ahead of the Vidhan Sabha polls.
He also said that June 10, 2024, which would mark the 25th anniversary of the NCP, would be celebrated in a big way.
“Ideology of Shiv-Phule-Shahu-Ambedkar is the core of our party and we will not give up this ideology,” he said.
NCP Working President Praful Patel, state NCP President Sunil Tatkare and senior leader and state Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Chhagan Bhujbal addressed the gathering.
Published 27 May 2024, 11:15 IST