He Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has become insecure amid the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and was discussing issues that are not even mentioned in the Congress manifesto, former Maharashtra Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan said on Thursday, reported the PTI.
Prithviraj Chavan was in Maharashtra’s Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar to campaign for Chandrakant Khaire, Lok Sabha candidate of the Shiv Sena (UBT), which is an ally of the Congress and the NCP (SP) in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).
“The BJP raises the slogan of ‘abki baar 400 paar’ but feels insecure. That is why it is discussing issues (to attack the Congress) which are not even mentioned in our manifesto. We have said that we will give Rs 1 lakh to the poor. women annually. This is something the BJP will not discuss,” he said, according to PTI.
When asked about the merger of parties, Chavan stated that people in Maharashtra generally do not like the presence of too many groups.
“Even I believe that small political parties will merge with other parties after the Lok Sabha elections in 2024,” Prithviraj Chavan said, although he declined to name which parties he was referring to, according to PTI.
Leaving aside the impact of the All India Majlis and Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) on the polls in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Prithviraj Chavan asserted that Muslims will vote for the MVA.
“In the 2019 elections, AIMIM was allied with Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi. That is no more,” he said.
The three-phase vote disturbed Prime Minister Modi, who openly mentions the Muslim community in his speeches: Sharad Pawar
Meanwhile, NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday said voting in the first three phases of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections has been disturbing. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and has started openly mentioning the Muslim community in his speeches, PTI reported.
Speaking to reporters in Satara in western Maharashtra, Pawar explained his merger with the Congress comment, saying that several parties have a similar ideology to that of the grand old party.
When asked about his assessment of the Lok Sabha elections after the completion of three phases, the former Union minister said: “It seems that voting in these three phases is disturbing for Modi and the reason (for saying this) is “that after these phases, Prime Minister Modi has changed his tune.”
“He has started openly mentioning the Muslim community (in his speeches). He seems to think that the situation would change if communal thoughts were incorporated. I have observed that some people in his party think that as the phases are completed, his position is in danger,” he said.
When asked about his party’s possible merger with the Congress, Pawar said he never made such a comment.
Sharad Pawar, in a newspaper interview, recently said that in the coming years several regional parties will associate themselves more closely with the Congress or even merge with it.
Elaborating on it, he said: “Let us take the example of our party, the NCP. Since its founding till today, the NCP and the Congress have been working together. The ideology of both the parties has its roots in (the ideals of Mahatma) Gandhi and (Jawaharlal). Nehru, therefore, it will not be a surprise to see a rise in sentiments among parties that share (a Congress-like ideology) coming together and working more closely with each other.”
(with PTI inputs)