09 May,2024 06:08 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Prithviraj Chavan. File Pic
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has turned insecure amid the Lok Sabha elections 2024 and was discussing issues that are not even mentioned in the Congress' manifesto, former Maharashtra chief minister and senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan said on Thursday, reported the PTI.
Prithviraj Chavan was in Maharashtra's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar to campaign for Chandrakant Khaire, Lok Sabha candidate of the Shiv Sena (UBT), which is an ally of the Congress and the NCP(SP) in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).
"The BJP raises the slogan of 'abki baar 400 paar' but is insecure. That is why it is discussing issues (to attack the Congress) that are not even mentioned in our manifesto. We have said we will give Rs 1 lakh to poor women annually. Now this is something the BJP will not discuss," he said, as per the PTI.
Queried about merger of parties, Chavan asserted people in Maharashtra generally do not like the presence of too many outfits.
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"Even I think small political parties will merge with other parties post Lok Sabha elections 2024," Prithviraj Chavan claimed, though he refused to name the parties he was referring to, according to the PTI.
Brushing aside the impact of the All India Majlis e Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) in the polls in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Prithviraj Chavan claimed Muslims will vote for MVA.
"In the 2019 polls the AIMIM was in alliance with Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi. That does not exist anymore," he pointed out.
Voting in 3 phases unsettled PM Modi, he's openly mentioning Muslims community in speeches: Sharad Pawar
Meanwhile, the NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday said that voting in the first three phases of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections has unsettled Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he has openly started mentioning Muslim community in his speeches, reported the PTI.
Talking to reporters in Satara of western Maharashtra, Pawar elaborated on his merger with the Congress remark, saying that several parties have an ideology that is similar to that of the grand old party.
Asked about his assessment of the Lok Sabha elections after the completion of three phases, the former Union minister said, "It seems that voting in all these three phases is unsettling for Modi and the reason (for saying this) is that after these phases, PM Modi has changed his tone."
"He has started making a mention of Muslim community openly (in his speeches). It seems he thinks that the situation would change by bringing in communal thoughts. It is my observation that some people in his party think that as the phases complete, his position is getting in danger," he said.
Asked about his party's possible merger with the Congress, Pawar said he never made any such remark.
Sharad Pawar, in an interview to a newspaper said recently that in the next couple of years, several regional parties will associate more closely with the Congress or even merge with it.
Elaborating on it, he said, "Take the example of our party - NCP. From foundation till today, NCP and Congress have been working together. The ideology of both the parties is rooted in (the ideals of Mahatma) Gandhi and (Jawaharlal) Nehru. So, it will be no surprise to see an increase in sentiments among parties that share (an ideology similar to that of the Congress), coming together and working more closely with each other."
(with PTI inputs)
