Shinde govt will fall in 6 months, prepare for mid-term polls: Sharad Pawar tells NCP

NCP chief Sharad Pawar has augured that mid-term polls are likely in Maharashtra as the Eknath Shinde led government is likely to fall in the next six months.

After the Maharashtra assembly polls in 2019, the NCP, Congress and Shiv Sena came together in an unlikely alliance to form the government in the state, outmanoeuvring the BJP, which had emerged as the single largest party. Since then, many leaders in the saffron party had made pronouncements that the three-party coalition would collapse within months.

Now that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government has crumbled, NCP chief Sharad Pawar is the one counting down the days till the new government falters. The veteran politician has augured that mid-term polls are likely in Maharashtra as the Eknath Shinde-BJP combine will fall in the next six months.

He made the statement during a meeting with NCP MLAs and other party leaders in Mumbai on Sunday evening.

"The newly formed government in Maharashtra may fall in the next six months, hence all should be ready for mid-term polls," Pawar reportedly said, according to an NCP leader who spoke to PTI.

READ | From 'Sutradhar' to villain: Why MVA's collapse is a threat for Pawar and his NCP

The NCP leader went on to say that Pawar told them that the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs supporting Eknath Shinde are unhappy with the current arrangement.

“Once the ministerial portfolios are distributed, their unrest will come out, which will ultimately result in the collapse of the government," the NCP leader quoted Pawar as saying.