Ajit Pawar says there is “absolutely” no chance of him rejoining his uncle Sharad Pawar in the future.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar politically broke away from his uncle Sharad Pawar almost a year ago. His claims on the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and its symbol were accepted by the Election Commission but the matter is now with the Supreme Court. He contested as a partner of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the Lok Sabha election and could win one seat out of four. This time, in the State Assembly election, Ajit’s party is contesting 55 seats. He believes that the Mahayuti has improved its election position in the last four months and is going to win this election. He spoke to Frontline during his campaign in Marathwada. Excerpts.

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The Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in Karnataka is reviewing a proposal to introduce a reservation for Muslims in public contracts for construction (civil) works valued up to ₹1 crore, according to media reports. If approved, this measure would raise Karnataka’s quota in government tenders to 47 per cent.

Karnataka’s Existing Reservation Framework

At present, Karnataka reserves 43 per cent of civil work contracts: 24 per cent for SC/STs, 4 per cent for OBC contractors under Category-1, and 15 per cent for Category-2A OBCs.

The proposed inclusion of a 4 per cent reservation for Muslims under Category-2B would add to this structure, pushing the overall quota to 47 per cent.

4% Muslim Quota Proposal: Details and Clarifications

Media reports emerged that the Congress administration was considering adding Muslims to the reservation ambit, stirring political and public discourse. “The demand to add Muslims under Category-2B with a reservation of 4 per cent is being examined. No decision has been made yet,” the reports cited people familiar with the development as saying.

Hours after the reports surfaced, the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) clarified the situation, stating that while demands for such reservations had been received, there was currently no official proposal under consideration.

“It’s true that there is a demand to provide reservation for Muslims in government contracts but there is no proposal before the government right now,” the CMO confirmed.

Background of 4% Muslim Quota Proposal

Initial information suggested that the state government was exploring a reservation scheme for Muslims similar to those granted to SC and ST communities in civil contracts.

A News18 report stated the possibility of tabling a bill related to this proposal during the winter session of the Karnataka Assembly.

Political Reactions to the Proposal

The proposal has sparked sharp responses, particularly from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

If Muslims are given this quota in Karnataka then whose share will be cut – SC, ST or OBCs?

BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya criticised the Siddaramaiah government, framing the move as a violation of constitutional principles. “Siddaramaiah administration in Karnataka is evaluating a proposal to provide reservations to Muslims in public contracts for construction (civil) works. If Muslims are given this quota in Karnataka then whose share will be cut – SC, ST or OBCs?” Malviya questioned in a post on X.

Malviya further noted, “In Telangana, Muslims have been given 4% reservations, eating into the share meant for the socially backward communities. In Maharashtra, the Congress-led MVA has accepted Jinnah-like demands of the All India Ulema Board. It is all about Muslim votes for the Congress, in gross contempt of the Constitution, which precludes any religion-based reservation.”

The demand to add Muslims under Category-2B with a reservation of 4 per cent is being examined. No decision has been made yet.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla has slammed the Congress-led Karnataka government for its moves related to the Waqf land issue, ANI reported.

Speaking to the news agency, Poonawalla jibed at the state government for retracting notices related to the Waqf land issue and called it a “U-turn expert”.

‘U-turn, Vote Bank’

“The Karnataka government has now become a U-turn expert. First, it says that there was no MUDA scam, and then it returns to the land of the MUDA scam. Now Siddaramaiah has ordered that no farmer’s land will be taken,” Poonawalla said.

“But Waqf is not stopping at all, 53 Waqf properties have been identified in Vijayapura and Karnataka. This clearly means that the Congress wanted to give the farmers’ land to Waqf, to its vote bank, in a planned manner. Today, when the process of bringing amendments in Waqf takes place in JPC, the Congress opposes it,” he added.

What Happened?

According to a statement by the Chief Minister’s Office, CM Siddaramaiah on November 2 directed officials to immediately retract all notices sent to farmers concerning waqf land issues, stating that no disturbances should be caused to the farmers.

On the same day, Karnataka Waqf and Minority Affairs Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan slammed the opposition BJP in the state for a row over waqf notice to farmers and alleged that it was “projected differently.”

Speaking to ANI on November 2, Khan said that the notice has been withdrawn for reconsideration. “The temporary notice served to farmers has been made into a big issue by the BJP. They have projected it differently and are giving the wrong message to the country. The CM has decided to withdraw the notice and we are reconsidering it,” he stated.

‘Disturbance of Peace’

The Chief Minister’s directive came after a high-level meeting involving senior officials from the Revenue Department, Minority Welfare Department, and the Waqf Board.

The CM expressed strong dissatisfaction over recent actions taken by certain officials and highlighted that the JD(S) and BJP were allegedly using the Waqf matter for political gain, potentially disturbing peace in the state. He appealed to the public to disregard any misinformation and called on officials to ensure the matter was handled sensitively, as per the report.

Karnataka Legislative Council LoP Chalavadi Narayanaswamy reacted to the withdrawal orders by calling it an “eyewash” to win the local elections. “Now, you’ve given the order to withdraw the notices. But still, in the gazette, it is only Waqf’s property. So this is not a solution at all. I will immediately request CM Siddaramaiah to withdraw the 1974 gazette. Otherwise, it is just an eyewash to win the local elections. This will not bring any relief to the farmers,” he alleged.

Congress leaders on Friday hit-back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for targeting the grand old party and its chief Mallikarjun Kharge over poll promises and said that ‘nobody in the party can lie like PM Modi’.

In a series of tweets, PM Modi said that Congress Party is realising the hard way that making unreal promises is easy but implementing them properly is tough or impossible.

Modi’s comment came after Kharge’s comments that the party’s state units should make promises that are properly budgeted and do not lead to financial troubles.

However, soon the Congress rejected the allegations and said that the government of India is not delivering what they promised. “They are blaming us for non-delivery. But on our part, we are delivering on our promises,” said Congress general secretary KC Venugopal.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah also tagged Modi and said that before pointing fingers at Congress, take a hard look at BJP’s disastrous legacy in Karnataka!

“We are fulfilling every promise we made to our people – all 5 guarantees implemented with a budget over ₹52,000 crore, and an additional ₹52,903 crore in capital outlay to build Karnataka’s future. And the irony? While Karnataka contributes significantly to the Union’s coffers, your government starves us of our rightful share to prevent us from implementing guarantee schemes.”

Siddaramaiah stated that for every rupee Karnataka gives, they only receive 13 paise back.

“This is not ‘cooperative federalism’; it’s outright exploitation. While Congress in Karnataka has delivered, BJP continues to fail Indians nationwide.”

Congress leader Udit Raj said that nobody in the party can lie like PM Modi.

“He had spoken about 2 crore jobs, about ₹15 Lakhs in accounts, about doubling of farmers’ income, about houses for everyone till 2022. He did not do anything but didn’t even apologise for it,” reported ANI quoting Udit Raj.
He further added that Kharge and Congress party have warned that we should promise only that much as much as it can be implemented. “They are liars. We speak the truth.”

Congress in-charge for Maharashtra, Ramesh Chennithala on Wednesday hit out at the Mahayuti alliance, claiming that unlike them, the Congress has given “equal treatment to all parties” in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) ahead of the Maharashtra assembly elections.

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“Nominations have been filed on all 288 seats by Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) candidates. When you compare MVA with Mahayuti, there is no tussle within our group. Mahayuti is finished now. We have given equal treatment to all parties in MVA. In Mahayuti, BJP has stolen all seats of NCP and Shiv Sena-Shinde,” he said during a press conference.

The “tussle” refers to Bharatiya Janata Party opposing the nomination of Nawab Malik as Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar) candidate from Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar.

Earlier, BJP leader Kirit Somaiya called Malik a terrorist, saying, “Nawab Malik is a terrorist who tried to break India into pieces. He is Dawood’s agent and Ajit Pawar’s NCP has betrayed the country by giving ticket to Nawab Malik. On behalf of Mahayuti, Eknath Shinde’s candidate Suresh Krishna Patil (Bullet Patil) of the Bharatiya Janata Party started campaigning yesterday.”

Chennithala further claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wanted to “kill” their alliance partners, the Congress has just given the A and B forms to candidates who were already announced.

“This is a clear message that the BJP wanted to kill their alliance partners…We have given ‘A’ & ‘B’ forms only to those candidates whose names have been announced by the party. Those Congress leaders who have filed nominations independently should withdraw their nominations,” he said.

He further criticised the implementation of the state government’s Ladli Behen Yojana, saying that the government has no funds for the scheme, which is why it was stopped by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

“They have no funds for the Ladli Behen Yojana in the Maharashtra government treasury, which is why through the ECI they stopped the schemes. The women of Maharashtra will not get any money from the govt. It was all lies told before the elections,” Chennithala said.

The Maharashtra Assembly elections are scheduled for November 20, with counting for all 288 constituencies set for November 23. 

Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, has reportedly expressed his disappointment over the alleged ‘favouritism’ in the suggested list of Congress leaders for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections 2024, scheduled on November 20.

Of the 85 seats that the Congress is contesting, the party has released the names of 48 candidates for the upcoming Assembly polls. Rahul Gandhi highlighted that the list of candidate names submitted in the Congress Election Committee (CEC) meeting appeared to “favour” certain Maharashtra Congress leaders, India Today reported some sources as saying.

Rahul Gandhi also questioned about the allocation of certain Congress strongholds to Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena in areas such as Vidarbha and Mumbai as part of the seat-sharing agreement of the Maha Vikas Aghadi(MVA) alliance.

The MVA alliance comprises of Congress, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP), who reached a consensus of contesting 85 seats each, in the polls.

The Uddhav Sena has declared candidates for 65 seats, while Congress has named candidates for 48 seats, and the NCP has announced candidates for 45 seats.

According to the UBT’s first list, Uddhav Thackeray’s son Aaditya Thackeray would be contesting the polls from Mumbai’s Worli. Meanwhile Kedar Dighe, the nephew of late Shiv Sena leader Anand Dighe, has been fielded from Thane’s Kopri-Panchpakhadi seat, where CM Eknath Shinde is in the fray. Other key names include Rajan Vichare who is contesting from the Thane seat, and Varun Sardesai from Bandra East.

Maharashtra Assembly Polls: Seat sharing tussle

While Congress’s Wadettiwar may have announced that ‘the problem of seat sharing has been resolved’, the tussle is still underway on 18 of the 288 seats as Samajwadi Party leader and MLA Abu Asim Azmi threatened to field candidates on 25 seats if the opposition alliance failed to keep aside five seats for his party’s candidates. The Samajwadi Party is also a part of the MVA.

The results for the election to 288-member Maharashtra Assembly will be declared on November 23.

The Congress has asked for a third seat from the Samajwadi Party for the bypolls in Uttar Pradesh as the party is unhappy with the two seats allocated to it, according to an India Today TV report.

Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had informally discussed the seat-sharing for upcoming bypolls during the swearing-in ceremony of Omar Abdullah as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir in Srinagar on October 16, the report said citing sources.

Currently, the Samajwadi Party has offered Ghaziabad and Khair seats to Congress. However, Congress is still claiming the Phulpur seat, where the Samajwadi Party has announced its own candidate, it added.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Congress in-charge Avinash Pandey, Party Chief Ajay Rai, and Party Leader Aradhana Mishra are negotiating with the Akhilesh Yadav-led party. However, the Samajwadi Party is not planning to give more seats, the report said.

The seat-sharing issue comes as Congress is under immense pressure from its allies to revise its poll strategy after the disappointing Haryana Assembly Election results and its failure to secure a seat in the Jammu region.

However, there are speculations that the Gandhi family discussed the Phulpur seat with Akhilesh Yadav, a seat where the Samajwadi Party has chosen Mustafa Siddiqui candidate, who had lost the previous election, the report stated.

The top leaders of Congress and Akhilesh Yadav will soon finalise the seat-sharing for UP bypolls, the report added citing sources from Congress.

The UP bypolls for nine seats will be conducted on November 13. The nine seats will include Karhal (Mainpuri), Meerapur (Muzaffarnagar), Katehari (Ambedkar Nagar), Ghaziabad, Sisamau (Kanpur), Majhawan (Mirzapur), Phulpur (Prayagraj), Khair (Aligarh), Kundarki (Moradabad).

The seats fell vacant after the MLAs were elected as MPs in Lok Sabha Elections 2024, while Samajwadi Partly MLA from Sisamau, Irfan Solanki, was disqualified on criminal charges.

The counting of votes is scheduled for November 20.

The Congress and Samajwadi Party had previously contested together as the INDIA bloc for Lok Sabha elections.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has announced it may contest a few seats in next month’s Maharashtra assembly elections. Led by Arvind Kejriwal, AAP is part of the opposition’s INDIA bloc. In Maharashtra, three constituents of this bloc—Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress, and NCP (SP)—are competing under the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) banner against the ruling Mahayuti alliance.

Addressing a press conference at Kudal in Maharashtra’s coastal Sindhudurg district on Friday, AAP’s Goa unit president Amit Palekar said his party is working on strengthening its base in the Konkan belt, particularly in Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri districts, and also in Kolhapur in western Maharashtra, PTI reported.

The party has grown substantially in the Konkan belt, as the local population is looking at alternatives to BJP’s Union minister Narayan Rane and his “politics of vendetta”, he said.

“The AAP stands strongly with the INDIA bloc allies for the November 20 Maharashtra elections but if political developments permit, then the party may stake claim on a couple of seats where it is in a winnable position,” Palekar said. “There is a lot of pressure from the local party workers in Kolhapur as well as Sindhudurg to field party candidates for the upcoming elections,” he said. 

Palekar, who is the party’s Sindhudurg district in-charge, said the residents of Konkan were respectful and cannot tolerate Rane family’s “language of arrogance”.

“Clean and honest politics is the need of the hour and only dedicated politicians can do it,” he noted.

Elections for the 288-member Maharashtra Legislative Assembly are set to take place in a single phase on November 20, with vote counting scheduled for November 23.

Eknath Shinde became Chief Minister in June 2022 after a split in the Shiv Sena and has navigated various challenges while leading the coalition government. His journey from starting as a rickshaw driver to reaching the highest political office in Maharashtra is considered a remarkable underdog story.

As the Election Commission (EC) of India has announced the dates for the Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly elections, a senior Congress leader has raised concerns over the credibility of electronic voting machines (EVMs). 

Maharashtra assembly elections will be held in a single phase on November 20, and the votes will be counted on November 23. Jharkhand polls will be held in two phases, on November 13 and November 20, and the result will be declared on November 23.

Triggering a fresh controversy, Congress leader Rashid Alvi has cast doubts on the EVMs. “If Israel can allegedly target individuals using pagers and walkie-talkies, what does that imply for the security of EVMs?” Alvi asked. 

He further suggested that the upcoming elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand should be conducted using paper ballots instead of EVMs. 

Alvi’s statement assumes significance as it was made on the day the election schedules for Maharashtra and Jharkhand were announced.

“In Maharashtra, the Opposition should put pressure to insist on voting by paper ballot and not EVMs. Otherwise, in Maharashtra, the BJP govt and the EC can do anything. If Israel can kill people by use of pagers and walkie-talkies, then where does EVM stand?” he said.

“The PM has very good relations with Israel. Israel is an expert in such things. EVM ka bada khel kahin bhi ho sakta hai aur uske liye BJP chunav se pehle yeh sab khel kar leti hai.”

What did the EC say?

However, refuting the allegations, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Tuesday assured that EVMs are 100 per cent foolproof

Speaking to ANI, Kumar said, “The public answers questions by participating in the voting. As far as the EVMs are concerned, they are 100 per cent foolproof. If they raise questions today again, we will tell them again.”

Last week, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh also submitted a memorandum to the poll body on the same matter. Ramesh hoped that the body would take cognizance of the issue and give appropriate instructions.

Taking to social media platform X, Ramesh, the Congress general secretary in charge of communications, wrote, “On October 9, senior Congress party leaders submitted a memorandum full of complaints to the Election Commission. Taking it forward today, we have given an updated memorandum, highlighting serious and clear irregularities in the election process in 20 assembly constituencies of Haryana. We hope that the Election Commission will take cognizance of this and issue appropriate instructions.”

The Election Commission announced the poll dates for Maharashtra and Jharkhand on Tuesday.