After missing NDA meet, Ajit Pawar chairs review of NCP's performance in Lok Sabha polls

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday met senior leaders of his Nationalist Congress Party to take stock of the Lok Sabha election results and the party's performance. After the meeting, NCP state president Sunil Tatkare told reporters that they will contest the forthcoming state assembly polls aggressively and dismissed speculations that his party MLAs were in touch with the rival NCP (SP) led by Sharad Pawar.

The state assembly elections are due later this year.

Ajit Pawar's party contested four Lok Sabha seats in the state and bagged only one - Raigad.


The ruling Mahayuti, which includes the BJP, Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the NCP headed by Ajit Pawar, won 17 out of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi, comprising the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) led by former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and the Sharad Pawar-headed NCP (SP), won 30 seats.

NCP working president Praful Patel, other senior party leaders and ministers, including Hasan Mushrif, Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse Patil and Dhananjay Munde, attended the meeting at the deputy CM's official residence 'Deogiri' in south Mumbai.

After the meeting, Tatkare said the NCP leadership will later in the day discuss with the party MLAs the situation in the assembly constituencies.

"We will fight the assembly polls aggressively. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, both the deputy chief ministers (Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis) will take a decision on unitedly fighting the assembly elections," he said.

Tatkare dismissed speculations that the NCP MLAs were in touch with the NCP (SP).

Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra Pawar lost to NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule, the daughter of Sharad Pawar, in the Baramati Lok Sabha seat by more than 1.5 lakh votes.

In July last year, Ajit Pawar joined the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena in the state along with some other MLAs, leading to a split in the NCP founded by his uncle Sharad Pawar.