‘Sympathy wave in favour of Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar in Maharashtra’: Ajit Pawar's alliance leader Chhagan Bhujbal

Maharashtra's Ajit Pawar camp leader Chhagan Bhujbal has said that there's a sympathy wave in favour of Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar in the state.

Bhujbal in an interview with NDTV amid Lok Sabha polls said, "I believe there is a sympathy wave - the way Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena split and a faction of the NCP switched sides. This is showing in their rallies".

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 23 out of 25 seats it contested in alliance with the undivided Shiv Sena. Maharashtra sends the second-highest number of MPs after Uttar Pradesh.

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Maharashtra's politics has become complex since 2022 after Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party split into two parts.

Currently, there are two Shiv Sena--(Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde). Similarly, there are also two NCPs- Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar. The state government has an alliance of BJP- Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) and NCP (Ajit Pawar).

According to Bhujbal, in previous Lok Sabha elections, the BJP fought in an alliance with the undivided Shiv Sena and the parties had won in 23 and 18 constituencies respectively.

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" It doesn't seem like they (Shiv Sena UBT and Sharad Pawar's) are failing the way they did in 2014 and 2019," Bhujbal added.

However, Bhujbal asserted that people's faith is still with Narendra Modi and they want him him to form a strong government.

Bhujbal, who was eyeing to contest as Mahayuti candidate in the Lok Sabha polls has recently withdrawn from the race over the delay in the announcement of the candidate for the Nashik seat.

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He further alleged that the naming of the candidate for the Nashik seat was taking longer despite "having the circumstances," while urging the party to announce the candidate for the seat soon.

The voting in Nashik will be held on May 20 in the fifth phase.

Last year, Bhujbal disclosed that he had tendered his resignation from the state cabinet in November. He had accused the state government of facilitating the backdoor entry of the Maratha community into the OBC quota.

Elections to the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra will be held in five phases. The counting of votes will be held on June 4.