Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Chief Sharad Pawar in a bid to strengthen reportedly reach out to Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, YSR Congress Chief Jagan Mohan Reddy and Telangana Boss K Chandrashekhar Rao ahead of the results. The Opposition believes that these three parties could play a crucial role in the formation of next government in case of a hung parliament.
Reportedly, NCP Boss Sharad Pawar spoke to all three Leaders and is making efforts to bring all under opposition Umbrella against BJP-led NDA.
However, NCP officially chooses not to comment on the development. As predicted by Exit Polls, these three parties – BJD, YSR Congress Party, TRS – is expected to bag 40-50 seats in their respective states. Biju Janata Dal is predicted to bag 10-15 seats in Odisha, KCR’s TRS likely to bag 12-16 seats in Telangana while YSRCP likely to get 15-20 seats in Andhra Pradesh.
BJD Leader Amar Patnaik on Monday said that his party (BJD) will support whoever forms the next government. Patnaik, as quoted by ANI, said, ‘We would probably support some party or some kind of combination, whoever forms the govt at the Centre and agrees to settle some of the unsettled and long pending issues of Odisha’.
Amar Patnaik, BJD: We would probably support some party or some kind of combination, whoever forms the govt at the Centre and agrees to settle some of the unsettled and long pending issues of Odisha. pic.twitter.com/YmqJaogvY4
— ANI (@ANI) May 20, 2019
Sharad Pawar’s move to reach out to three leaders after rounds of meeting with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu over the weekend.
Chandrababu Naidu, once an ally of BJP, is among those who are spearheading the efforts to stitch Anti-BJP Front. Naidu in past one week met opposition leaders including Mamata Banerjee, Sitaram Yechury, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal, Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav, Deve Gowda, HD Kumaraswamy, among others.
An Opposition Leader speaking on the condition of anonymity told The Hindu, Considering the Sharad Pawar’s stature in politics, he has been tasked to reach out to like-minded parties ahead of results.
It should be noted that almost all exit polls on Sunday predicted Prime Minister Narendra Modi to return in power.
Most of the exit polls predicted a clear Majority to Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) with above 300 seats. Polls predicted party’s landslide victory in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand among others.
However, the Opposition parties have termed the exit polls as wrong and express a hope that the May 23 results will be very far from the trend suggested by the Exit Polls.
National Polls 2019 held in seven phases from April 11 to May 19. Counting of votes is slated for May 23.
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