Will Sharad Pawar contest polls or not? Guessing game’s on

Mumbai: Just as talks of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar contesting the 2019 general elections from Pune began doing the rounds, Pawar has decided to put a full stop to all such rumours. “I am not going to contest and stop dragging my name about in this regard,” Pawar said, addressing a meeting at the party’s Mumbai office regarding seat allocations within the party.
In 2014, Pawar had declared that he was not going to be contesting any election in the future. However, last week, there was news of his contesting the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

“This created a huge flutter within party circles, taking Pawar by surprise. We also questioned the source of this news,” said Jitendra Awhad, NCP legislator. Clearing the air, Pawar on Saturday announced that he would not contest any Lok Sabha (LS) elections anymore, in line with his own announcement in 2014. Pawar had then said, it was time for the next rung of leaders to contest and he would concentrate on his Rajya Sabha responsibilities.The NCP and Congress party alliance talks have now reached the stage of seat-sharing discussions.

There are reports of NCP having asked for the Pune LS constituency. Pawar has called for a mahagathbandhan (mega alliance) to keep Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) out of the reckoning, in case no party wins an absolute majority in the 2019 LS elections. NCP sources said, “Right now Pawar’s decision stands. However, it could be a Pawar strategy to keep the ruling party guessing.” Of the 48 seats, NCP wants 25 from Congress.

From its share of 25 seats, it is ready to give one to Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana leader Raju Shetti. NCP also wants to swap some seats with the Congress party.The 2019 LS elections are critical and Congress is moving heaven and earth to ensure its victory tally reaches double digits after the 2014 debacle.