Ajit Pawar owns up responsibility for son's defeat in LS polls

Senior Maharashtra NCP leader Ajit Pawar Tuesday owned up the responsibility for his son Parth's defeat form Maval Lok Sabha constituency in the debut contest.

Shiv Sena's Shrirang Barne defeated Parth from the constituency that covers parts of Pune and Raigad districts by a margin of 215913 votes.

Analysing the outcome, the former Deputy Chief Minister said the people had made up their minds to see Narendra Modi as prime minister again.

"People have given their mandate, we accept it and as Ajit Pawar I am responsible for it," he told reporters when asked about Parth's defeat.

He made the remarks after attending the meeting of the constituents of the grand alliance in Maharashtra to discuss the poll results and the way forward.

The meeting was attended by leaders of the Congress, Left, Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, Samajwadi Party and other parties, besides the NCP.

Pawar said the Opposition parties should move on now and take steps to see how the Maharashtra Assembly polls could be won.

He also said NCP chief Sharad Pawar might meet with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on the issue of drought on Tuesday or Wednesday.

In the keenly-fought contest, the NDA won 41 out of total 48 seats in Maharashtra.

While the Congress shrunk to just one seat, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP managed to retain its 2014 tally of four seats.