No competition with Sharad Pawar, opposition narrative had impact in Maharashtra during Lok Sabha polls: Ajit Pawar

New Delhi [India], August 15 (ANI): NCP chief and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has said that there is no competition between him and his uncle Sharad Pawar for the Maharashtra assembly polls as they are running their own poll campaigns and expressed confidence that the ruling Mahayuti alliance will return to power in the elections.
In an interview with ANI, Ajit Pawar indicated that the INDIA bloc parties set a narrative during the Lok Sabha polls which impacted the poll result in Maharashtra with the ruling alliance winning only 17 of 48 seats.
He said the partners of the ruling alliance are reaching out to people and also seeking return of those who had drifted away in the Lok Sabha polls.
"There is no competition. He is doing what he thinks is right. I am currently campaigning for Mahayuti...I know everything since the party was founded in 1999. He is moving ahead in his own way and I am moving ahead in my own way," Ajit Pawar said.
He was asked about his campaign and that of NCP (SP) leader Sharad Pawar for the assembly polls and if there was a competition. Assembly polls in the state will be held later this year.
Ajit Pawar has embarked on 'Jan Sanman Yatra' as part of preparations for the assembly polls. He had joined the BJP-Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra led by Eknath Shinde in July last year causing a split in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
Ajit Pawar said they are reaching out to people with schemes of the government and announcements made in the budget.
"We brought good schemes in the budget and we are informing people about them. We are also telling everyone what work we have done in the constituencies. We are reaching out to explain to the voters who drifted away during the Parliament elections from us."
NCP led by Ajit Pawar is part of the ruling Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra, which also includes Shiv Sena and BJP.
Ajit Pawar said the opposition parties created false narratives in Lok Sabha polls which adversely impacted them.
"The opposition had raised the issue of the Constitution, claiming that we are asking for more than 400 seats to change the reservation (provisions). They have tried to set such narratives, which had an impact on Maharashtra. We are telling everyone that as long as there is sun and moon, nothing will happen to the Constitution," he said.
"There are many states where the opposition's narrative had no impact. There, due to strong leadership, people were made to understand (the issue) properly. In Maharashtra, it was our shortcoming," he added.
Ajit Pawar said he, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis sought to counter the narrative being sought to be portrayed by the opposition parties.
The INDIA bloc parties won 30 (Congress 13, Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray 9, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) 8) of 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra. Ajit Pawar's NCP won one of four seats it contested, Shiv Sena won seven and BJP won nine seats.
Answering a query, he said there is no discord among top leaders of ruling alliance in Maharashtra.
Expressing confidence of Mahayuti winning the assembly polls, he said the Chief Minister will be decided after a brief discussion with all leaders of the alliance.
"There will be a CM from Mahayuti. All the MLAs will sit together and there will be a decision on who will be the CM. Right now, the full effort is on winning maximum seats," Ajit Pawar said.
Speaking on his future plans, Ajit Pawar said that his focus is the development of Maharashtra.
"Right now, we want to focus on the development of Maharashtra. We want to move forward by balancing everything. We want to bring more funds from the Centre for Maharashtra like what Andhra Pradesh and Bihar received in this union budget. We will go among the people with our good schemes," he said. (ANI)