NCP's chief Sharad Pawar calls for state-level alliances to defeat BJP in Lok Sabha poll

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar has called for state-level alliances among parties opposing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), saying this could lead to the saffron party's defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. However, Pawar added that actual alliances at the national level would emerge only after the elections take place.

Pawar added that he has discussed the issue with Congress president Rahul Gandhi, and said the latter has agreed to an alliance that doesn't project a particular leader as an alternative to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Whichever party performs best and secures maximum number of MPs could be the leader of the anti-BJP alliance, Pawar said.

Pawar helmed a meeting with the NCP's core committee on Monday at Mumbai's Yashwantrao Chavan Centre, to discuss the current political situation in the country, and the party's strategy for the upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. Pawar also addressed a meeting with 40 NCP veterans after the core committee meeting.

"There was also no pre-poll alliance during the post-Emergency elections. The leadership formed by Jaiprakash Narayan emerged during and after the elections. The Janata Party was formed after the general election, when Morarji Desai was chosen as prime minister. Even during the 2004 election, there was no single leader or party that led a national-level alliance against the incumbent BJP. But despite this, they managed to defeat a popular leader like Atal Bihari Vajpayee," he said.

In Maharashtra, Pawar said, the Congress and NCP already have an alliance, but ruled out the possibility of joining hands with the Shiv Sena. He also made it clear that his meeting with MNS chief Raj Thackeray wasn't with any "political agenda", and was only to discuss the usage of EVMs in ensuing elections.