Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday pitched for contesting the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly and the Lok Sabha polls along with the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena and Congress.

Talking to reporters, he claimed that regardless of a break up within the Shiv Sena, majority of the “hardcore” Shiv Sainiks who work on the bottom stand behind Uddhav Thackeray.

Pawar stated MLAs and MPs could have aligned with the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena after the break up, however when polls happen, they may even know what the views of persons are.

After the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections, Thackeray had snapped ties with long-term ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and tied-up with the NCP and Congress to type the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) authorities within the state.

The Thackeray authorities collapsed in June final yr after a revolt led by Shinde towards the Sena management.

To a question on the difficulty of alliance, Pawar stated, “The understanding is that the Congress, NCP and Uddhav Thackeray ought to work collectively (for the Lok Sabha and Maharashtra polls). The Republican Party and some teams ought to be included. But we’re having discussions. We take selections collectively on many points, so there shouldn’t be any downside on this.” The NCP chief had final yr additionally stated the MVA allies ought to combat the Maharashtra Assembly elections collectively.

The Lok Sabha polls are due in May 2024 and the Maharashtra Assembly elections are due in October next year.

Thackeray had in November last year predicted mid-term polls in Maharashtra and asked his party workers to start the preparations.

On the issue of the ongoing border dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka, Pawar said Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had convened a meeting with different parties.

The case should be strongly presented before court by roping top legal experts of the country, he added.

The border dispute is currently pending before the Supreme Court.

The issue dates back to 1957 after the reorganisation of States on linguistic lines. Maharashtra laid claim to Belagavi, which was part of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency, as it has a sizeable Marathi-speaking population. It also laid claim to over 800 Marathi-speaking villages which are currently part of Karnataka.

Karnataka maintains the demarcation done on linguistic lines as per the States Reorganisation Act and the 1967 Mahajan Commission Report as final.

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