Asked if he is ruling out any association with his nephew, Sharad Pawar emphasised that he will have no truck with those who are with the BJP.Ajit Pawar had walked away with a majority of the then undivided group of MLAs in 2023 to ally with the BJP.The senior Pawar slammed the NCP leaders, who sided with his nephew and many of them now fighting the poll as part of the ruling coalition, as “traitors” and expressed confidence that people will serve justice in the November 20 election.In his comments, Ajit Pawar too has been dismissive of any possibility of joining hands with his uncle.However, in the state’s political arena full of regional satraps with malleable ideology and fluid loyalty, the buzz about a post-poll realignment of forces depending on the nature of the verdict has never stopped.To a question over the claim that the ruling alliance might have recovered some ground following its Lok Sabha loss by launching several welfare schemes, including ‘Ladki Bahin’, Sharad Pawar said the government resorted to this after realising people’s unhappiness with its performance.”They have realised they are not getting a positive response. They are using a lot of money,” he said.Asked about the perceived reaction to ‘Ladki Bahin’, a cash transfer scheme of Rs 1,500 to women, the Senior Pawar said any such monetary measure is bound to have repercussions here and there but his observation is that women will vote for his alliance for peace, security and overall welfare.With the BJP amping up its Hindutva campaign in the state assembly polls, he noted that the ruling alliance has been stressing this plank but added that one will have to wait for poll results to find out its impact.
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