Sharad Pawar’s “We Thank PM Modi” At Press Meet With Allies: A Sharp Swipe

Sharad Pawar, the founder of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), has expressed his “thanks” to Prime Minister Narendra Modi following the success of Maharashtra’s opposition alliance, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), in the recent Lok Sabha elections. The MVA, comprising Pawar’s NCP, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena faction, and the Congress, secured 30 out of the 48 seats in Maharashtra.

This comes after Pawar lost control of the NCP symbol and name to a faction led by his nephew, Ajit Pawar, who became Deputy Chief Minister by joining forces with the BJP and Eknath Shinde’s breakaway Sena group. Eknath Shinde is the current Chief Minister. In his statement, Pawar sarcastically thanked PM Modi for creating a political environment favorable to the MVA’s success.

The BJP, which had won 23 seats in 2019, managed only nine this time, marking a significant decline. Analysis shows that despite PM Modi’s extensive campaigning, the BJP failed to win 15 out of 18 key seats, securing victories only in Mumbai North, Mumbai North West, and Satara. The remaining seats, including Beed, Latur, Nashik, Mumbai North East, and Pune, were won by MVA parties. Pawar’s NCP ended with eight seats, while Ajit Pawar’s faction secured just one.

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Uddhav Thackeray, buoyed by his faction’s nine-seat win compared to the breakaway group’s seven, indicated a firm stance against those who had defected but left some room for reconciliation. He emphasized loyalty and expressed readiness to move forward with those who stayed through the party’s struggles. Thackeray also dismissed speculations of merging his faction with Shinde’s Sena and rejoining the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), a move that could bolster the BJP’s position after winning only 240 seats, falling 32 short of a majority. Even with NDA partners like the JDU and TDP, the BJP is just 21 seats above the majority mark of 272.

Thackeray also criticized the BJP’s strategy involving the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, which the party believed would secure a majority of Uttar Pradesh’s 80 seats and help achieve their “400 paar” target. Thackeray quipped, “After the election, Ram has become BJP-free.”