‘Confident of return to power in Maharashtra’

Mumbai: NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar on Wednesday expressed confidence that his party would return to power in Maharashtra after the state assembly elections due later this year. He said his party would resolve the farmers’ issues in the state once it comes at the helm again.

Pawar made these remarks while interacting with farmers at the NiraWagaj village in Baramati tehsil of Pune district. “Both the governments (at the Centre and state) are not ruled by us. But (state) elections are round the corner. We have seen how work was done in the Lok Sabha polls. If such work is repeated in the state assembly elections, I cannot see how the reins of state government will not come into our hands,” Pawar said.

“All the issues of farmers can be resolved if the power of the state government comes into our hands,” he added. Expressing concern over the water pollution of Nira river in Pune district, he blamed the sugar factories, saying they played a big role in polluting the river water. Pawar said he will hold talks with the state and central governments to address the issue. In the recently held elections for the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, the Congress won 13 seats, a quantum jump from the solitary seat it won in the state in 2019, while the Shiv Sena (UBT) bagged nine and the NCP (SP) eight.

In the seat-sharing deal for the general elections, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) had got the largest share of seats among the three parties as it contested 21 seats, followed by Congress at 17 and NCP (SP) at 10.