Stating that the political wind in neighbouring Karnataka favoured the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on May 7 said that the Congress would win the upcoming Karnataka Assembly election.
Speaking in Pandharpur, in Solapur district, Mr. Pawar, hinting that the BJP was not in a good situation in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha election, said that the saffron party was in power in “just five-six States” currently while the remaining States had non-BJP governments.
“As per the information I have received, Congress will come to power in Karnataka. As far as the whole country is concerned, we will start with Kerala. Is the BJP there in Kerala? In Tamil Nadu? In Telangana? Andhra Pradesh? In Maharashtra, owing to Eknath Shinde’s crafty move [intra-party revolt which split the Shiv Sena], they managed to come to power in the State,” he said.
“In Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, Punjab, Uttarakhand, and Bengal, there is no BJP. If you look at the entire map of the country, only five to six States have BJP governments, and in the remaining States, there are non-BJP governments,” he said.
Mr. Pawar further said that the BJP came to power in Madhya Pradesh only after some Congress MLAs were poached when Kamal Nath was the Chief Minister.
The Karnataka Assembly election will be held on May 10 and counting of votes will take place on May 13.
Incidentally, Mr. Pawar’s own NCP, despite being in alliance with the Congress in Maharashtra, is contesting independently in Karnataka, fielding candidates against the Congress.
This prompted Congressman and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, while campaigning for his party in Karnataka, to claim that the NCP was effectively functioning as a B-team of the BJP.
Seat-sharing for LS poll
Meanwhile, Mr. Pawar, commenting on the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) the — which comprises the NCP, Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT) — said the three parties should discuss seat-sharing if they thought the Lok Sabha election would be held earlier than scheduled.
He further said he would not be able to predict the outcome of the next year’s Lok Sabha election in the current scenario.
Ratnagiri project
Speaking on the proposed refinery at Barsu in coastal Ratnagiri district (in the Konkan) where several villagers are opposing the mega project, the NCP chief said local residents’ discontent should not be ignored and that their interests should be protected.
“It should also be ensured that the project doesn’t adversely affect the agriculture and fishing business of the region,” he said.
Mr. Pawar said it was not appropriate to use police force and suggested that the locals should be taken into confidence before going ahead with the project, referring to police action against protesters at Barsu last month.
