Maharashtra: Ajit Pawar announces to go solo in upcoming local body elections

Pune (Maharashtra) [India], July 21 (ANI): Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and National Congress Party Chief, Ajit Pawar on Sunday announced that his party will fight the local body elections in the state independently.
"Despite having contested Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha together as Mahayuti, every party will contest local body election as per their strengths. Therefore, party workers in Mahanagar Palika, Nagar Palika, Zila Parishad, and taluka Panchayat shall start their work and try to spread government schemes among people," Pawar said.
Earlier, Several Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders and corporators returned to the Sharad Pawar camp a day after resigning from the Ajit Pawar faction on July 17.
At Sharad Pawar's residence in Pune, the former NCP's Pimpri-Chinchwad unit chief, Ajit Gavhane, was among the leaders who joined his faction.
In reaction to this, NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) working president Supriya Sule said that Sharad Pawar has been working for development in Maharashtra and at the Centre for the last 60 years, and even people from the opposition look at him with great hope.
The Nationalist Congress Party split last year when Ajit Pawar led some MLAs joined the ruling Eknath Shinde Sena-led BJP government.
In the Lok Sabha elections, the NCP bagged only one of the four seats it contested, whereas the NCP-SP won eight of the ten seats it contested.
The Mahayuti alliance -- Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena and the NCP -- collectively bagged 17 seats in Maharashtra with BJP securing nine seats and the Shiv Sena seven.
Earlier today, Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched sharp attacks on former Union Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Chandra Pawar) supremo Sharad Pawar over corruption accusing him of "institutionalising" corruption.
"They (the opposition) are speaking about corruption. The biggest mastermind of corruption in Indian politics is Sharad Pawar and I have no confusion in that. What will they accuse us of now? If somebody has done the job of institutionalising corruption, Sharad Pawar, it is you. And you are accusing us of corruption?" Amit Shah said while addressing BJP conclave in Maharashtra's Pune on Sunday. (ANI)