BJP will be ousted from power: Pawar on elections in five states

Solapur (Maha), Nov 16 (PTI) Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar on Thursday claimed that the BJP will be ousted from power in the assembly elections being held in five states. Of the states where polling will be held on Friday, the BJP is the ruling party only in Madhya Pradesh.

'Wherever the BJP is in power, you will see a non-BJP chief minister after the elections,' Pawar said, speaking to reporters at Solapur in Maharashtra.

Besides Madhya Pradesh, assembly elections are being held in Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram.

Pawar also remarked that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was campaigning with the wrong approach in these elections.

'His party's confidence level has gone down and the people will not fall for their false promises any longer,' the NCP chief added.

On Amalner MLA Anil Patil's statement that Sharad Pawar and his nephew, Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar will come together again after the coming winter session of the state legislature, Pawar senior said, 'I met a few people from Amalner, and they told me that Anil Patil (who belongs to Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP) will not be elected in the next elections.' But the NCP, Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) would soon discuss seat-sharing, he said.

Talking about the Maratha reservation issue, Pawar said the state and central governments have the authority to make the final decision and they should resolve the issue soon.

Asked about the Pawar family get-together in Baramati which Ajit Pawar attended, the NCP chief said celebrating Diwali together was a family tradition, and no politics was discussed during the meeting. PTI COR KRK