Maharashtra assembly elections: Leading NCP a huge responsibility; Mahayuti seat-sharing talks moving positively, says Ajit Pawar

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar who heads the Nationalist Congress Party has said that helming the NCP away from the shadows of his uncle and founder Sharad Pawar after the split is a huge responsibility reported news agency PTIIn an interview with PTI during his Jan Sanman Yatra Pawar said on Thursday that the seatsharing talks among the ruling Mahayuti partners NCP Shiv Sena and BJP for the Maharashtra assembly elections are proceeding positivelyAjit Pawar and his loyalist MLAs broke away from NCP in July last year to align with the ruling alliance He later got the party name and its clock symbol Party founder Sharad Pawar who now heads NCP SP is a part of the opposition bloc Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA also comprising Shiv Sena UBT and CongressThis is the biggest responsibility that I have ever received Till now Sharad Pawar saheb was our leader and our chief When I joined politics in 1991 there was no NCP by then When I was in Congress there were several leaders Therefore there was no question about it extra responsibility When NCP was formed in 1999 I was given responsibilities only after 2004 Now the final responsibility lies with me because I am the NCP chief he said reported PTISpeaking about seat sharing for the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections Pawar said he had spoken to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde who leads the Shiv Sena and Deputy CM and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis two to three times and the talks were positiveEveryone wants to contest from maximum seats and a solution will be found he saidHowever we need to hold talks with our other alliance partners as well Lets wait for a few days said the deputy CM reported PTIOn being asked if the Maharashtra assembly elections could be held in November he said there was such a buzz but added the schedule was the prerogative of the Election Commission and not in our handsAjit Pawar also batted for an allparty meeting to discuss the demand of the Maratha community for reservation in education and government jobs saying the opposition parties cannot be neglected since they also represent the people reported PTIMaratha quota activist Manoj Jarange wants reservation under the OBC segment Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had called an allparty meeting to discuss the quota issue but the opposition stayed away I dont know if the boycott was deliberate It has been decided to seek their opposition time again he said reported PTIHailing the Mukhyamnatri Ladki Bahin Yojana under which women get a monthly aid of Rs 1500 if their annual family income is less than Rs 25 lakh Pawar said it would be launched on August 17 at an event in Balewadi here with beneficiaries getting money for July and August CM Shinde and Deputy CM Fadnavis will attend the eventIt is a transparent scheme in which money is transferred to accounts linked to the beneficiarys Aadhaar leaving no room for any illegality Pawar added reported PTISlamming the opposition for calling it an election gimmick that would burden the exchequer Pawar said he had presented 10 budgets and knew about financesOn the issue of raising resources Pawar said Maharashtra accounts for 16 per cent of the countrys GST collections with 50 per cent coming back to the stateMoreover the state also has revenue coming in from excise and other taxes Pawar pointed outPawar said his Jan Sanman Yatra was getting a good response from women adding that schemes meant from them as well as farmers and youth were well received since beneficiaries include the poor and from all castesAsked whether the mistake he alluded to in connection with the Baramati Lok Sabha fight between Supriya Sule and his wife Sunetra was political or personal he said There is nothing deliberate about speaking about a mistake I am the master of my mind I speak my mind I am a straightforward person reported PTIHe refused to speak on the split in the Pawar household due to the NCPs break up and asserted such matters need not be discussed in an open forum just because he was a public figureI am a public figure but I would not like to speak about my family I will speak about my family within the family he said reported PTIOn a question about chances of reuniting with Sharad Pawar the deputy CM said I will only speak about my work and vision for Maharashtra We will tell people to give us a chance again so that we can bring more funds for the state The opposition is always negative reported PTIAsked to compare bitter rivals CM Shinde and Shiv Sena UBT leader and former CM Uddhav Thackeray Pawar said Everyone is different in behaviour and temperament But everyone works for Maharashtras interests and development Shinde has worked with Thackeray for several years What happened between them only Shinde can say reported PTIOn former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singhs claims about moves to get Fadnavis and some other leaders arrested during MVA rule Pawar said he knew nothing about the matterI have never heard anything about this I do not do any negative work Everyone knows me I do what I feel right the NCP chief assertedWith inputs from PTI