The NCP announced party chief Sharad Pawar will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi at 12.30pm on Wednesday. NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik claimed Pawar would meet Modi to discuss issues related to farmers in Maharashtra.
The meeting comes even as the NCP, Congress and Shiv Sena continue deliberations on forming a three-party coalition government in Maharashtra, nearly a month after the Shiv Sena and BJP alliance won a majority of seats in the Assembly polls. The BJP, with 105 seats, was the single-largest party in the 288-member Assembly, while the Shiv Sena won 56 seats, NCP 54 seats and Congress 44.
Interestingly, the meeting between Modi and Pawar comes amid rumours that the BJP is attempting to woo the NCP to support a government led by the saffron party in Maharashtra. With the support of the NCP, the BJP will have a comfortable majority in the 288-member Assembly.
According to media reports since Tuesday, the BJP has reportedly offered the NCP positions in the Union cabinet and the post of president for Sharad Pawar in 2022, when the tenure of President Ram Nath Kovind ends. On Tuesday, Shiv Sena leaders told NDTV that the Pawar was being pursued by the BJP and the post of president of India "was on the table".
also read
- Why Maharashtra assembly elections 2024 is going to be unlike any other
- Nawab Malik or Bullet Patil? Row over Mahayuti's official candidate in Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar
- Video| NCP Sharad Pawar faction leaders Jitendra Awhad, Yunus Shaikh caught on camera brawling in public
- SC directs Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction to use clock symbol with ‘disclaimer’
- NCP's Baba Siddique shot dead by assailants from UP, Haryana; aid also suffered bullet injuries | What we know so far
There was speculation that the BJP was attempting to reach out to the NCP when Modi praised the party for its conduct in Parliament in the Rajya Sabha on Monday. In 2014, Pawar had offered outside support for the BJP after it fell short of a majority in the Assembly polls in Maharashtra.
Senior Shiv Sena leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut sought to downplay the political significance of the meeting between Pawar and Modi. Speaking to mediapersons on Wednesday morning, Raut claimed it was the Shiv Sena that had asked Pawar to meet Modi to raise concerns of farmers in Maharashtra. Raut reiterated that a government led by the Shiv Sena would be in place by December.
