Maharashtra polls: BJP, NCP dismiss reports of 'friendly fight'

Pune: Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule has said his party will throw more weight behind its Mahayuti partners NCP and Shiv Sena in the upcoming state polls and denied reports of a 'friendly fight' proposal for seats where there is a tussle among allies.

Deputy Chief Minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar on Tuesday also denied that the BJP proposed a friendly fight in 25 assembly seats in the state.

Elections to the 288-member state assembly are likely to be held in November.

Bawankule was on Tuesday replying to a question about a news report claiming the BJP had proposed a friendly contest in 25 constituencies where there is a tussle among the ruling alliance partners.

"These reports are baseless. The BJP will throw more weight behind the candidates of NCP and Shiv Sena," he said.

Asked about the accident involving the Audi car belonging to his son in Nagpur, Bawankule said the matter was under investigation.

"Let there be an investigation in the case. Be it my son or anybody's son, whatever rules are there, they should be applied. It is a matter for the police to investigate, I am thankful to God that no one was injured," he said.

Pawar told reporters that the BJP, Shiv Sena and the NCP led by him will sort out ticket distribution issues for all 288 assembly seats together.

"I don't know about the news report you are referring to. I did meet Amit bhai (Union minister Amit Shah) as he was in Mumbai on Monday. I spoke to him over the price issues of soybean, cotton, the ban on onion export. The news report is incorrect," he said.

Asked if there could be friendly contests in some seats if the three parties failed to reach a consensus, he said all this was speculation.

"We have done the discussion over most of the seats, (discussion) over some seats is left. We will inform when it is finalised," Pawar said.

He also dismissed claims that the NCP might contest alone.

Asked about a social media post by NCP (SP) leader Rohit Pawar where he cited a survey predicting 65 to 70 seats for BJP, 17 to 22 seats for the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and only 7 to 11 seats for NCP in the assembly elections, Bawankule said some people derive joy from such surveys.

"It is a fact that the government led by Modi ji will be in the Centre for five years, and the people of the state know that if the Mahayuti government comes back to power, the schemes of the Centre and the state will continue," the BJP leader said.

"(Opposition) Maha Vikas Aghadi coming to power means stopping of these schemes, MVA coming to power means closure of the Ladki Bahin Yojana and free electricity to farmers. When Uddhav Thackeray was the CM, the MVA had stopped 15 schemes," he said.

Asked about the ongoing tussle for credit among the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP over the flagship Ladki Bahin Yojana for women, he said the opposition had panicked because of the scheme's success, and hence it was spreading rumours about a rift in the Mahayuti.