Mumbai: Buoyed by its impressive performance in Maharashtra in the just concluded Lok Sabha elections, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) comprising Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress, and NCP (SP) on Saturday decided to contest the upcoming Assembly elections unitedly to dislodge the MahaYuti regime from power.
Following a preliminary meeting of the opposition alliance, the MVA partners said that winnability is the sole criterion and there is no big or small ‘brother’ as all are equal with only one objective — to unseat the MahaYuti government comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP.
The meeting was attended by NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, his son Aditya Thackeray, Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut, and senior Congress leaders Prithviraj Chavan and Balasaheb Thorat, among others.
At the media briefing following the meeting, Sharad Pawar, Aditya Thackeray, and Prithviraj Chavan claimed that the MVA will work hard to repeat the performance of Lok Sabha elections and defeat the MahaYuti in the upcoming Assembly elections slated for September-October this year.
In the recent elections, the MVA won 31 out of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, while the MahaYuti allies bagged the remaining 17 seats.
The MVA leaders said the opposition alliance also comprising smaller parties like the CPI, CPI-M, AAP, and Peasants and Workers Party of India will arrive at a seat-sharing formula at the earliest.
They also said that many social and non-political organisations are with the MVA and their association will continue in the Assembly polls to defeat the MahaYuti.
In a subtle jab, Pawar said the more meetings Prime Minister Narendra Modi holds for the upcoming Assembly elections, the more strongly the MVA will move towards majority.
Claiming that in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, the Prime Minister addressed 18 election rallies and held one roadshow in Maharashtra but the voters in all those places backed the MVA candidates, Pawar said, “I consider it my duty to thank Prime Minister Modi.”
“The people who were with the MVA in the general elections will remain with us for the Assembly elections as well,” said Uddhav Thackeray.
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said, “In the Lok Sabha elections, people showed great support for the MVA. Also, the farmers of the state taught the BJP a good lesson. In some places, there were attempts to polarise the voters on religious lines, but they did not affect the election outcome.”
To a question on a write-up in the RSS mouthpiece ‘Organiser’ that claimed Ajit Pawar’s inclusion in the MahaYuti reduced the BJP’s brand value, Pawar said, “The RSS only spoke of its experience.”
“The people have exposed chinks in the BJP’s invincibility narrative. But the Lok Sabha election was not the final, as the battle has just begun. The MVA will fight the Assembly elections with more strength,” said Uddhav Thackeray.
“An atmosphere was created before the Lok Sabha elections that no one could defeat the BJP. But the people of Maharashtra showed how false their invincibility was. The Lok Sabha elections were a battle to save the Constitution. But this is only the beginning as the battle has just started,” he added.
On whether he would accommodate the party legislators who deserted him in the past, Thackeray said, “They will not be taken back.”
Similarly, Pawar also said that there is no question of taking back his estranged nephew Ajit Pawar and the other legislators who deserted his party.
(IANS)
