Maha: NCP's Ajit Pawar says he favours poll tie-up with MNS

NCP leader Ajit Pawar Tuesday said he favoured his party joining hands with the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena to avoid division of votes in the Lok Sabha polls against a possible BJP-Shiv Sena combine. Ajit Pawar's remarks come in the wake of Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar last Saturday saying that his party was not engaged in tie-up talks with the Raj Thackeray-led MNS.

Former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said anti-BJP parties can come together keeping aside those positions which were unacceptable to each other previously. "What I think, we must bring together all those who find secular ideologies as acceptable if we really want to defeat the Shiv Sena-BJP combine," a statement quoted Ajit Pawar.

"The MNS had secured one lakh to one-and-half lakh votes in the past elections in some constituencies. Hence, to defeat the ruling combine, the MNS must come together," he said, though adding that it was his personal opinion. Without naming the MNS chief, Pawar also observed that the former had supported Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, but has been critical of the PM in the recent past.

"It is my personal opinion that we can come together keeping aside the positions which were not acceptable to each other in the past," Ajit Pawar said, a possible reference to the alleged anti-north Indian migrant stance of the MNS. To drive home his point, Ajit Pawar also recalled that Thackeray had recently attended an event organised by north Indians based in the city.

The Congress and the NCP are currently in the process of stitching a grand alliance of like-minded parties against the BJP and Shiv Sena. Talking about alliances in the state for Lok Sabha polls, Sharad Pawar had said his party was not engaged in any talks for a tie-up with the MNS.

"Raj Thackeray has a great deal of support from the youth. But we have not had any talks regarding any agreement pertaining to elections with his party," the NCP chief had said. He discusses public issues with the MNS chief often, but there has been no discussion about working together for the polls, the former Union agriculture minister had said..