Amid reports of Bihar chief minister Nitesh Kumar’s name for presidential polls, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP on Tuesday made it clear that there is no question of support to the JD(U) stalwart till he snaps ties with the BJP.
"There cannot be a discussion on this until he (Nitish Kumar) snaps ties with the BJP. First, he should break ties with the BJP and only then a thought can be given to support his candidature. Leaders of all parties will then sit together and think about it,” NCP chief spokesperson and Maharashtra minority affairs minister Nawab Malik said.
According to him, the BJP would face a severe drubbing in the Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur. “In Uttar Pradesh, they (BJP) would get less than 150 seats…people are fed up with this (Yogi Adityanath) government,” he said.
In a video statement, he accused the BJP of triggering communal violence in Uttar Pradesh in 1993 when it was in power there, and said people of that state had dislodged the party because of it. “The history will repeat itself in Uttar Pradesh after 30 years when the Assembly poll results are out next month,” the veteran NCP leader and close Sharad Pawar-aide said.
Malik’s statement came days after Telangana chief minister and TRS founder-president K Chandrashekar Rao - who is playing a major role in building opposition unity - flew down to Mumbai and met Pawar and Maharashtra chief minister and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray.
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