Days after an RSS leader blamed Ajit Pawar's NCP for the NDA's poor performance in the Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra, Praful Patel on Thursday rejected the claim, saying his party's alliance was going to stay in the state. "Some issues can be raised by people in their capacity but this does not make any difference to the alliance. Our alliance is here to stay and win the next round of elections," Patel said while speaking to reporters.
Ajit Pawar split the NCP in July last year and joined the NDA. He was soon appointed as Deputy Chief Minister. In the Lok Sabha elections, Ajit Pawar-led NCP contested 4 seats but could win only 1. In contrast, Sharad Pawar's NCP, part of the MVA alliance, bagged 8 of 10 seats, and Congress 13 of 17.
RSS leader Ratan Sharda suggested that the BJP's move to induct Ajit Pawar into the NDA had affected the party's performance. "Maharashtra is a prime example of unnecessary politicking and avoidable manipulations," he wrote in the RSS-affiliated magazine, 'Organiser'.
He said the NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar joined the BJP even though the BJP and Eknath Shinde had a comfortable majority in the state. "Sharad Pawar would have faded away in two to three years as NCP would have lost energy with infighting between cousins. Why was this ill-advised step taken?" he asked.
Sharda suggested that the BJP supporters were hurt because they had fought against this Congress ideology for years and were persecuted. "In a single stroke, BJP reduced its brand value. After years of struggle to become numero uno in Maharashtra, it became just another political party without any difference."
The RSS leader also said that induction of Congressmen, who had actively promoted the bogey of saffron terror and persecuted Hindus, became BJP leaders without a regret note that they made a mistake or that they were forced by their bosses to speak a lie. "This showed BJP in poor light and hurt RSS sympathisers immensely."
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the NDA's tally came down to 17 seats from 41 in 2019. The BJP's seats also dropped from 23 in 2019 to just 9 in 2024. Uddhav Thackerary's Shiv Sena also suffered a setback and could win just 9 of the 21 seats it contested. The Congress emerged as the biggest beneficiary as its numbers jumped from 1 seat in the previous elections to 13 in 2024.