Will win back sections now backing VBA: Sharad Pawar

Mumbai: Nationalist Congress Party  (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday said he would work to win over those sections of society, which turned towards the Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) in the recent Maharashtra Assembly polls.

Addressing the NCP’s defeated candidates in Mumbai, Mr Pawar admitted that the VBA hurt his party’s prospects in several constituencies.

Mr Pawar said, “I will work in the impending days to bring back the sections of society who voted to VBA, rather than us. Till recently, the VBA’s vote base belonged to the NCP.”

Mr Pawar added, “However, despite the hard work, we could not win in some constituencies that means we need to work hard.”

While stressing that the VBA’s vote bank earlier belonged to the NCP, Mr Pawar added that youths, farmers and minorities voted for his party during the state Assembly polls.

He argued that Dalits and Muslims supported the VBA during the Lok Sabha polls held earlier this year. But in the Assembly polls, Muslims voters did not support the Ambedkar-led outfit, he added.

The NCP chief also pointed out the need to strengthen the party organization, especially in cities like Mumbai and Thane. In the recent polls to 288-member state Assembly, the NCP contested 117 seats and won 54 seats, 13 more than its tally in 2014 when it bagged 41 seats.

After the state poll results were announced on October 24, Congress spokesman Sachin Sawant alleged that VBA ate into the votes of the Congress-NCP and ensured defeat of the Opposition alliance in 25 Assembly seats.