Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar said here on Tuesday that his party would contest the forthcoming Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Goa and Manipur and indicated that in UP, the NCP would have an alliance with the Samajwadi Party.
Addressing a news conference here, Pawar said the NCP would contest the Assembly polls in alliance with the like-minded parties in three of the five States between February and early March.
“In Uttar Pradesh, we intend to be a part of the SP-led alliance. In Goa, our talks are on with the Congress and the Trinamool Congress. In Manipur, we will have an alliance with the Congress,” Pawar said.
The NCP chief said he would attend a joint meeting of the like-minded party called by Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav at Lucknow on Wednesday. “In UP, the SP, NCP and smaller parties will form an alliance to contest the Assembly polls. I have discussed with the SP leaders the seats we would contest in Uttar Pradesh,” he said.
Pawar said the people wanted “change” in Uttar Pradesh and the public mood in that State was for showing the door to the BJP. “People want a change in UP. And there will be definitely parivartan in UP,” he said.
Slamming Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s statement that it was 80:20 situation in UP — where “80 per cent people are with BJP and 20 per cent are against it”, Pawar said it did not behoove well for the Chief Minister to seek division of the people on religious lines and to hurt the sentiments of the minority community there.
“People in UP there are not happy with the communal politics practised by the BJP. The BJP is trying to polarise the UP on communal lines ahead of the polls. I am confident that the voters there will give a befitting reply to this,” the NCP chief said.
Alluding to the abrupt exit of UP Cabinet Minister Swami Prasad Maurya from the BJP to join the SP, Pawar said “this is just the beginning” and he anticipated 13 more MLA and other supporters would join the SP in the coming days.
“The BJP can expect more jolts in the run-up to the Assembly polls there,” he said.
Pawar said in Goa, NCP leader Praful Patel, Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut are talking with local Congress leaders there.
“We are holding negotiations with the Congress and Shiv Sena to form an alliance of the Maha Vikas Aghad in Maharashtra,” he said, adding that the NCP was also in talks with the Trinamool Congress.
Pawar said in Manipur where the NCP has 4 MLAs, it would forge an alliance with the Congress and contest five seats.