Mumbai: With counting for Maharashtra assembly elections nearing completion on Thursday evening, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar said people have given a message that they do not like "the arrogance of power".
The comment comes after it became apparent that the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance in Maharashtra is falling short of its target of securing 220 assembly seats. The results availble till 2 pm on Thursday show that BJP had won three and was leading in 98 seats while Shiv Sena too had won three seats and was leading in 57.Meanwhile, Pawar's NCP had won one seat and was leading in 54 seats, while candidates from Congress were leading in 45 constituencies.
"People have not accepted the talk of 220 seats (out of 288). The NCP accepts people's mandate humbly. The Congress, NCP, PWP, Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana and other allies whole-heartedly co-operated with each other. The election result shows people did not like the arrogance of power," Pawar said. Pawar also observed that "some people have crossed the limit of holding extreme views", but did not name anyone from the State government. Pawar added that people still want the NCP to stay in opposition and respecting the mandate, it will not try to form government, according to a report by PTI.
"People have asked us to sit in the opposition. The thought of trying to get into power doesn't even cross our minds. We will work to expand our base," he added. On the issue of candidates leaving parties to join the BJP, Pawar noted that such leaders were not accepted by the people.
"People did not like their act of expediency ahead of the election," he said. He was probably hinting at how Udayanraje Bhosale, who had left NCP to join BJP, was trailing in Satara's Lok Sabha bypoll. Newly-elected NCP MLAs will meet after Diwali to discuss future course of action, he said.
