Day after LS poll results, Sharad Pawar leaves for Delhi to attend INDIA bloc meet

Mumbai: NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar left for Delhi on Wednesday morning to attend a meeting of the INDIA bloc, a day after the opposition alliance made big gains and the Lok Sabha polls results did not throw up a landslide victory the BJP-led NDA hoped for.

Pawar was expected to reach Delhi around noon, sources said.

The 83-year-old former Union minister is expected to play a crucial role in deciding the future course or action of the opposition alliance.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is poised to form the government for a third consecutive term with the BJP-led NDA getting a majority in the Lok Sabha, notwithstanding crushing losses in three Hindi heartland states after a bitterly fought election that was projected as a referendum on his popularity.

The BJP, whose candidates had contested in the name of Modi, won in 240 seats, falling short of the 272 majority mark and needing the support of allies in the party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for government formation, a far cry from the 303 and 282 seats it had won in 2019 and 2014, respectively, to have a majority on its own.

Soon after the counting trends made the poll outcome clear on Tuesday afternoon, Pawar said the results showed the situation was favourable in the country for political change and the future course of action will be decided unanimously and in consultations with all allies.

His party NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) contested 10 out of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra and won eight.

Pawar on Tuesday said the opposition bloc was not likely to form a government at the Centre.

To a question who would be the next prime minister, he said, "We have not given it a thought." "I am not sure if the INDIA alliance can form government. We will meet and take a decision unanimously on the future course of action," he said.

Pawar had also said the strike rate of his party and that of the Shiv Sena (UBT) in the Lok Sabha elections was very good.

Buoyed by the INDIA bloc's show in the Lok Sabha polls, Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday pushed for staking a claim to form the next government at the Centre and said the opposition alliance's leaders will meet on Wednesday in New Delhi to decide on the Prime Minister's face.

He said leaders of the Congress and other parties were holding talks with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Telegu Desam Party (TDP) head Chandrababu Naidu to explore the possibility of their entry into the bloc.

The Kumar-led JD(U) and the TDP are constituents of the BJP-headed NDA, which is poised to form the next government in the 543-member House.