Surveys predict 50% seats for MVA in Maha, BJP unnerved, claims Sharad Pawar

KOLHAPUR: NCP-SP President Sharad Pawar said on Wednesday that recent pre-poll surveys have predicted that at least 50 per cent of the Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra would go to the Opposition MVA, and that has rattled the BJP.

Speaking to the media, Sharad Pawar said that despite claims to the contrary, the MVA is set to bag at least 24 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra.

Pawar said that the BJP is uncertain of its victory in the forthcoming elections and is resorting to sabotaging Opposition parties and their leaders.

“That is the reason they are deploying the CBI, ED and IT dept to break up political parties and take away their leaders,” pointed out Pawar, in a reference to the recent entry of former Congress strongman Ashok S. Chavan into the BJP fold.

While Chavan’s sudden exit may have shocked many, the NCP-SP supremo averred that he was “not at all surprised” by it and he had an inkling of what was to come.

“The BJP had released a White Paper on its 10 years’ performance and that of the Opposition parties too, in which Chavan’s name had figured in context of the Adarsh Society scam. At that time, we understood that this was a sort of ‘threat’ to him and it could have some ramifications. It finally happened,” explained Pawar.

On the MVA’s seat-sharing talks, Pawar revealed that there was a consensus on a majority of the 48 seats, and the rest would be finalised in the next two-three days.

He asserted that wherever there are disputes, the top MVA leaders sit together and hammer out solutions and suggested a similar strategy for the parties that form the INDIA bloc.

The senior Pawar suggested that INDIA partners in each state should hold discussions among themselves, particularly in states like Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, where there is no consensus on seat-sharing.

In West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress, CPM and Congress are the traditional rivals, and such issues have to be tackled, he advised.