Congress, Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) to jointly contest Maharashtra polls: Pawar

Bracing for the coming Maharashtra Assembly polls scheduled for October, NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday said his party, Congress, and the Shiv Sena (UBT) led by Uddhav Thackeray will jointly contest the elections.

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Addressing a press conference here, Pawar also said it is the moral responsibility of the major Opposition parties in Maharashtra to protect in the state Assembly polls the interests of smaller allies, which were part of the coalition in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The NCP (SP), Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT) are constituents of the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which was in power in the state from November 2019 till June 2022 before the collapse of the Thackeray-led government.

Pawar said the Opposition will keep a collective face before the people of Maharashtra.

There is a need for a change in the state and it is the moral responsibility of the Opposition coalition to discharge it, Pawar said.

"As Arjuna's target (in the epic Mahabharata) was an eye (of a fish), our eyes are all set on the elections in Maharashtra. The Congress, NCP (SP) and Uddhav Thackeray's Sena (UBT) will jointly contest the Vidhan Sabha polls," he said.