Pawar calls on leaders to bridge their differences.
Underlining the precarious state of the Congress-led UPA government, Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar’s NCP said that they were preparing for snap polls. The party said it would also contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in alliance with the Congress.
Pawar held a two-day meeting with party ministers, elected representatives and office bearers, which concluded on Saturday.
“There are chances that Lok Sabha polls may happen any moment and so the party must be prepared,” said Madhukarrao Pichad, NCP Maharashtra president, adding that they would focus on ensuring that they win most of the 22 seats they contest. Pichad said Pawar had reviewed the preparedness of the party and problems in the constituencies they had contested in the 2009 polls and reasons for defeat in the seats where they lost.
Maharashtra accounts for eight of the nine NCP MPs and is central to Pawar’s purported ambitions of emerging as a prime ministerial candidate in case a fractured mandate is thrown up. Pichad said the fate of the government would hinge on whether the finance bill would be approved in the Parliament.
“While putting up candidates, the criteria will be of winnability and so there’s a likelihood of our cabinet colleagues (from Maharashtra) being asked to contest the (Lok Sabha) polls,” said Pichad. Presently, the NCP is not seeking any hike in the number of constituencies contested earlier or any swap in them.
A senior NCP minister said Pawar had asked them to be prepared for snap polls and had called on leaders to bridge their differences while ensuring grass root level mobilisation. Representatives from Pawar’s constituency of Madha also called on Pawar to reconsider his decision against contesting the Lok Sabha polls.
Pacified?
Prabhakar (Bhaiyya) Deshmukh, a farmer who is agitating for water from the Ujani dam, and whose agitation had prompted deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar to make profane comments about the drought-affected areas and power cuts, tried to meet NCP chief and Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar on Saturday.
However, after Deshmukh arrived at the NCP office in Nariman Point, he was whisked away by water supply minister Laxmanrao Dhoble, who said they would try and arrive at a solution to his demands through discussions. Pawar is also said to have told his ministers to exercise caution while speaking in public.
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