Haryana poll results won't have bearing on Maharashtra elections, says Pawar

NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday, 17 October, said the results of Haryana polls, where the BJP retained power by defeating the Congress, will not have any bearing on next month's Maharashtra Assembly elections.

He noted that the results of the Jammu and Kashmir polls were significant from the country's perspective as the union territory garners more attention globally.

Speaking to reporters at Karad in Satara district, Pawar also said that with the unveiling of the new Lady of Justice statue, Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud has shown a new direction as nobody else earlier thought of making the changes.

Responding to a query about the INDIA bloc's strategy after the Congress's defeat in the Haryana assembly elections, Pawar said the BJP was ruling that state and it managed to retain power.

"We are studying Haryana, but at the same time look at the results of Jammu and Kashmir (polls). I do not think that it (Haryana results) will have any bearing on the state's (Maharashtra's) elections. As far as Jammu and Kashmir is concerned, the world community gives more attention to it and the results of Jammu and Kashmir are more important for the country," he said.

Elections to the 288-member Maharashtra assembly will be held on 20 November, and the results will be declared on 23 November.

In the 5 October Haryana polls, the BJP secured an unprecedented third term in the state, winning 48 seats in the 90-member Assembly. The Congress won 37 seats. Nayab Singh Saini is set to take oath as its chief minister.

In Jammu and Kashmir, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah took oath as the chief minister on Wednesday, heading the first elected government in the union territory since 2019 when its special status was revoked.

A new statue of the Lady of Justice has been unveiled at the Supreme Court, featuring open eyes replacing the traditional blindfold, and the Constitution in hand in place of a sword. When asked about this development, the veteran leader said, "A new direction has been shown by the CJI as this thought never occurred in this country."

Responding to a query on the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) not accepting the NCP (SP)'s request to freeze the trumpet symbol available in the free list of symbols, Pawar said that Election Commission of India (ECI) has informed them that the picture of their party symbol was not very clear, but now they have enlarged it and made its appearance clearer.

"So we can expect that it (the symbol) will not affect us," he said.

The NCP (SP) had requested the poll body to freeze the trumpet symbol from the list of available symbols as it is similar to the "man blowing turha" symbol formally allocated to the party. During the Lok Sabha elections, some Independent candidates were allotted the trumpet symbol by the ECI.

Asked about which seats in Satara district that the NCP (SP) will demand as part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi's seat-sharing, he said that a decision about the seats will be taken by the party's state unit chief Jayant Patil.

On the demand to project the MVA's CM face, he said the issue has been resolved among the three constituents - Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and NCP (SP) - as it was clarified during a joint press conference where Uddhav Thackeray was present along with him.

Speaking about his hint of a bigger role to Jayant Patil in the coming days, Pawar said Patil has a big responsibility as he is the state president of the party.