Maharashtra state chief minister Eknath Shinde has said Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar is conveniently ignoring the poll outcome in three North-eastern states but is projecting the Kasba Peth Assembly bypoll result as an indicator of change.
Pawar had said the Bharatiya Janata Party's defeat in its bastion of Kasba Peth in Pune city by the Congress in the recently-held bypoll indicated that winds of change were blowing across the country.
In the Kasba Peth byelection, Congress-MVA candidate Ravindra Dhangekar trounced BJP's Hemant Rasne by more than 10,800 votes. The BJP retained Tripura in the recently-held Assembly polls and it will continue to be a ruling alliance partner in Nagaland. In Meghalaya, the BJP has supported the National People's Party (NPP) of Conrad Sangma to form a government.
In Maharashtra, the Bharatiya Janata Party shares power with the Eknath Shinde faction, recently recognised as Shiv Sena by the Election Commission. Shinde also participated in the Ashirwad yatra organised by the BJP on Sunday in two of six Lok Sabha constituencies in Mumbai.