Senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar said on Monday that “elective merit” will be taken into consideration while allocating tickets to candidates for the next Lok Sabha elections. He also said the decision about the Shirur Lok Sabha seat, currently represented by Amol Kolhe of the NCP, will be taken after discussion with senior leaders.
In the 2019 polls, Kolhe defeated Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil of the Shiv Sena (undivided), which contested in alliance with the BJP. After severing ties with the BJP after the last Assembly polls, the Shiv Sena joined hands with the NCP and Congress to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi.
Pawar was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the review meeting of the NCP, which also discussed preparations for a public rally scheduled to be held in Ahmednagar to mark the party’s foundation day on 9 June. “While allocating tickets for Lok Sabha elections, the opportunity will be given to those candidates who have elective merit,” the NCP leader said.
When asked about Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule reportedly terming NCP’s OBC cell convention “nautanki’ (drama), Pawar said one cannot expect NCP’s opponents to speak well about the party. Targeting the ruling BJP over the Other Backward Classes (OBC) quota issue, Pawar said it was Maha Vikas Aghadi that had decided to approach the court.
“When the Supreme Court permitted OBC reservation in Madhya Pradesh, our team went there and held discussions to understand the strategy adopted by them. We then put forth our stand in the apex court, and everyone knows about the decision,” he said.