Maharashtra: NCP chief Sharad Pawar holds party meetings in Mumbai

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar held a series of party meetings in Mumbai on Wednesday. Initially, a group of important leaders met at Pawar’s Silver Oak residence. This was the first time they have met Pawar after Diwali. Thereafter, the core committee of NCP including Praful Patel, Supriya Sule, Dhananjay Munde, Jayant Patil, Jitendra Awhad, Nawab Malik assembled at the Yashwantrao Chavan Centre. They discussed the possible decisions to be taken in the wake of the declaration of Maharashtra Assembly election results. Currently, BJP and Shiv Sena are at loggerheads owing to the latter's demand for the Chief Minister's post to be shared for two and a half years each.

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Special welcome for MLAs 

This was followed by a gathering of the newly-elected MLAs at the party office in Ballard Pier. On this occasion, the office was decorated with flowers and posters of the NCP chief. As the party won 54 seats in the Maharashtra Assembly elections, a result that was beyond their initial expectation, every MLA was welcomed in a special way. In this meeting, former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar was unanimously elected as the leader of the NCP Legislative Party.  

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‘Article 370 is not the only thing in the nation’ 

In this meeting, the party supremo highlighted that NCP had won the people’s hearts. He also appealed for calm in wake of the verdict in the Ayodhya case. Sharad Pawar also took a dig at BJP by suggesting that its excessive focus on the abrogation of Article 370 was unwarranted.  

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The NCP chief said, "The Ayodhya result will be announced soon and it is a matter of faith. Whatever judgement comes we have to make sure that it is accepted and peace prevails everywhere. There should be communal harmony maintained everywhere. There are chances that some forces might take advantage of this but it is important to be calm and accept things." He added, "I don't think Article 370 makes relevance at every place. Why do you have to raise the issue of 370 everywhere? How does 370 affect everything? You have to understand that Article 370 is not the only thing in the nation. First, understand the needs of the common man, that is much more important." 

(With ANI inputs)

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