NCP hits out at Shah, Fadnavis on Baramati LS victory claim

The NCP Saturday hit out at BJP chief Amit Shah for asking his party functionaries to work towards winning Baramati Lok Sabha constituency, for long a bastion of Sharad Pawar.

Pawar was first chosen as MLA in 1967 from Baramati and was also Lok Sabha MP from there for several terms.

Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule is currently the Lok Sabha MP from Baramati.

It dared the BJP to declare its candidate for the seat first, with NCP national spokesperson Nawab Malik asking the ruling party whether it will field Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shah or Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis from the constituency.

"Fadnavis ji and Shah have said that they would win 45 of 48 seats in Maharashtra, including Baramati. It would not have been surprising even if they had claimed that they will win 50 seats of 48 in Maharashtra," Malik said.

"They said they are going to win Baramati seat too. Who will be there candidate? Mr Modi, Mr Shah or Mr Fadnavis? If you have guts, declare the candidate," Malik added.

His party colleague and Leader of the Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Council Dhananjay Munde also slammed the BJP.

He said the BJP continues to dream notwithstanding its defeat in the Assembly polls in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh held recently.

"The chief minister boasting about winning the Baramati seat reminds the story of a frog bloating his stomach. People will not sit idle till they burst the bubble of their dreams," Munde said on Twitter.

Setting a target of winning 45 out of 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, Shah told party workers in Pune Saturday that Baramati should be one of them.

Shah addressed BJP workers at a review meeting for three constituencies in the district -- Pune, Baramati and Shirur -- ahead of the coming polls.

"I want my party workers to win me 45 seats from the state, and to achieve that we will have to win Baramati seat. If we win Baramati, the number 45 can be achieved," the BJP chief said.

Fadnavis also exuded the confidence that the BJP will win Baramati seat.