ECI must realise NCP founder Sharad Pawar is still around: Sanjay Raut

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Monday said the Election Commission of India (ECI) should realise breakaway leaders Ajit Pawar and Praful Patel are claiming to represent the real Nationalist Congress Party when the party's founder Sharad Pawar is still around and had even attended a hearing at the apex poll body in connection with the split.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has started the trend of breaking political parties and families, which was dangerous for democracy, Raut, a Rajya Sabha MP, told reporters.

"Even if the BJP engineers splits in parties, the ideology remains with the original party. People laugh when one says Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena or Ajit Pawar's NCP," he asserted.

The Shiv Sena split in June last year after a rebellion by Shinde, while the NCP got divided into two factions after Ajit Pawar and eight MLAs joined the state government on July 2 this year.

Queried about ECI announcing the poll schedule for five states (Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Mizoram and Telangana), Raut said the opposition bloc INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) will win in all five states.

Voting for all 40 assembly seats in Mizoram will take place on November 7 along with the first phase of polling for 20 seats in Chhattisgarh.

The remaining 70 seats in Chhattisgarh will go to polls on November 17 alongside all 230 seats in Madhya Pradesh.

Voting for all 200 assembly seats in Rajasthan will take place on November 23, while the 119-member Telangana Assembly will be the last to go to polls on November 30.

Counting of votes for all five states will take place on December 3.