Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP national president Ajit Pawar on Tuesday ruled out the possibility of a single-party government in Maharashtra, saying that after 1985 there has been a coalition government which ruled the state.
Pawar was reacting to the call given by the Union Home Minister Amit Shah to the party functionaries to strive for the BJP to form the government solo in the state after the 2029 Assembly election.
The Home Minister also said that no one can stop MahaYuti from coming back to power after the upcoming Assembly election in 2024.
“A single-party government will come to power in other states but not in Maharashtra. Every party will make an effort for its growth. But a single-party government cannot come in Maharashtra. The political and geographical situation of the state is different. Other states may have a single-party government but the situation is quite different in Maharashtra,” said Pawar.
He noted that after 1985, there was never a single-party government that came to power in the state.
Pawar said that the Union Home Minister may have talked about electing BJP’s solo government in 2029 to boost the enthusiasm of the party workers.
“He (Home Minister) has the right to talk about the emergence of BJP as the single largest party in the state,” he said.
Pawar’s statement is important especially when his party the NCP along with Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena are BJP’s key allies in the MahaYuti and they are currently engaged in a seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Assembly election.
The BJP has already indicated that it would continue to play a big brother’s role in the MahaYuti and press for 150 to 160 seats leaving the balance 128 to Shiv Sena and NCP.
Pawar has also denied media reports of his party being a part of the third front in Maharashtra. “I am amused to read and hear such news,” he said.
He dropped sufficient hints that NCP will fight the Assembly election as the MahaYuti ally.
Meanwhile, the Home Minister also addressed an interactive meeting of the BJP workers in Navi Mumbai and asked them to work hard for MahaYuti’s victory.
He also told the party workers who want to quit the party to leave, saying that BJP is continuously growing.
The Home Minister also chaired the meeting with the BJP’s core committee in the presence of the party in charge and Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav and co-in-charge and Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav.