'People who contested polls with us…': PM Modi says Maharashtra's sympathy is with BJP

Disagreeing with the notion that there was “sympathy” in Maharashtra with Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the public sympathy was, in fact, with this Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

“Devendra Fadnavis was Maharashtra's first chief minister in several years to complete a full term. His government worked for the people and did not face any charge. (People's) Sympathy should be with us…people who contested elections with us and appealed for vote, cheated us so to fulfill their personal ambition to become chief minister. They broke this long-standing alliance and hence, people are angry. People's sympathy is with the BJP,” he said in an interview with News18, referring to Uddhav Thackeray.

The PM's remarks come a day after Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal, in told NDTV, said that there was a “sympathy” wave for Pawar and Thackeray.

Both Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) are now divided into two factions each. While Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde leads one Sena group, his deputy Ajit Pawar, Sharad's nephew, heads the NCP faction that split from the original party co-founded by the veteran politician.

The Election Commission recognises the Shinde and Ajit camps as the “real” Shiv Sena and NCP, respectively. The Uddhav group, meanwhile, is now called Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), while Sharad Pawar's NCP group is called NCP (Sharad Chandra Pawar). The BJP is accused of engineering splits in both cases.

The “real” Sena and NCP now govern Maharashtra in the “Mahayuti” alliance with the saffrin party. Sena (UBT) and NCP (Sharad Chandra Pawar), on the other hand, are members of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), with the Congress.

The western state has as many as 48 Lok Sabha seats, second only to Uttar Pradesh (80) in the 543-member Lok Sabha. It is, therefore, expected to play a key role in determining who will be in power at the Centre after votes are counted on June 4 for the ongoing seven-phase national polls, which began on April 19. The second round of voting was held on April 26, while the final round will be on June 1.