NCP (SP) launches outreach programme ahead of Maharashtra Assembly polls

Mumbai: Invoking Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) on Friday launched its massive outreach programme from the Shivneri Fort, the birthplace of the legendary Maratha warrior with the party’s state unit President Jayant Patil asserting that the Maha Vikas Aghadi would win more than 170 seats in the Maharashtra Legislative assembly polls.

The Shiv Swarajya Yatra was launched coinciding with the anniversary of the Quit India movement from the Shivneri Fort in Junnar in Pune district.

Patil was accompanied by Shirur MP Dr Amol Kolhe.

"We are of the people, the people are with us. The Shiv Swarajya Yatra will reach out to common citizens of Maharashtra with the goal of restoring Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's ideals in the state," said Patil, addressing reporters at the Shivneri Fort.

"The MVA will win more than 170 seats," he later said at a rally in Junnar.

The Yatra will focus on the BJP-led Maha Yuti’s failures.

”Those who have gone there because of ED, Income Tax, CBI, can't they raise their voice for the farmers of Maharashtra? Don't they have the courage to stand up to their bosses in Delhi?" asked Kolhe, hitting out at the Maharashtra government for bowing down before the Centre.

He raised concerns around agrarian distress in the state, pointing to how onions in Pakistan had more demand in the global market compared to Indian onions because of the government’s disastrous export policy. The issue of MSP for cotton and soybean, which played a critical role in rural constituencies during the Lok Sabha elections, was also a key issue raised by him.

Patil highlighted the grassroots nature of the yatra, contrasting it with other rallies being taken out by the ruling Mahayuti across the state.

"Our yatra is simple - this is not an 'event' managed by an event management company. We are taking the colours, the dreams, the aspirations of people along,” he said.

Building upon this critique, Kolhe said that the yatra was meant to restore the self-esteem and pride of Maharashtra.

"Shiv Swarajya does not mean wearing a different coloured jacket a day," he said, in a veiled attack on Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who has hired a political strategist for his campaign and has sported various hues of pink over the course of his election campaign.

"All these yojanas are fake. There's no Ladka Bhau, Ladki Bahin - only Ladki Khurchi," said Kolhe, hitting out at the schemes for being poorly planned.

"Baat toh hui thi 15 lakh ki, ab 1,500 mein kaisi samet gayi?" he asked, referring to how Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to put Rs. 15 lakh in every Indian’s bank account and questioning how the Mahayuti government was now trying to satisfy voters with Rs. 1500.

Hitting out at the Maharashtra government for spending 270 crores on publicising its newly launched scheme, Kolhe turned to women in the audience to say that if yatras had to be taken out to announce schemes, it meant the government had failed in its responsibilities.