Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar on Monday said the first task in front of the Opposition is to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the next Prime Minister can be decided after the results.
“There has been no confrontation over the name of the next Prime Minister. The Congress president himself has clarified that the primary task is to defeat the BJP,” said Mr. Pawar.
He was addressing the media after an NCP meeting to discuss the party's strategy for the upcoming polls.
“The people of India are smart. Smarter than any of us. They defeated the Congress in 1977 and the BJP in 2004, despite having no particular option,” he said, rejecting the argument that the Opposition has failed to come up with an alternative.
While the Congress and the NCP have inked their alliance for Maharashtra for the upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, Mr. Pawar said the decision on seat-sharing will be taken by the State leaders.
“The process has not yet begun. It may begin in the second week of September,” said Jayant Patil, NCP’s Maharashtra unit chief.
On Sunday, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray held a meeting with Mr. Pawar.
“He gave me a letter opposing the use of EVMs in the elections and requested me to present this position at the meeting called by the Election Commission of India,” said Mr. Pawar.
Asked whether the Congress-NCP alliance in the State would have MNS in it, Mr. Pawar said he had not discussed this with Mr. Thackeray and therefore he wouldn’t comment on it now.