Pune: NCP leader Sharad Pawar clarified the reasoning behind nominating Jayant Patil from the Peasants and Workers Party of India (PWPI) for the legislative council (MLC) elections. He emphasized that there was no deception involved, but rather a divergence in strategic opinions.
Pawar explained that while Congress had a significant number of votes, his group possessed only twelve. The Thackeray faction had more votes than his group, making it logical for Congress to cast their primary votes for their candidate.
However, had the remaining primary and secondary preference votes been allocated correctly, all three candidates could have been elected. Pawar admitted that their strategy was flawed.
Elaborating further, Pawar mentioned that there was no unanimous decision within the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) regarding Jayant Patil's candidacy.
Given their previous alliance with leftist parties during the Lok Sabha elections, Pawar's group felt it appropriate to support the PWPI candidate. Despite the leftists' request for some seats, Pawar's group was unable to accommodate them, leading to their decision to back Jayant Patil.
Pawar underscored his belief in prioritizing the left when possible. Congress held the most votes, while the Thackeray faction, despite lacking sufficient numbers, decided to field a candidate.
This discrepancy in strategic opinions resulted in differing approaches. To ensure victory, 23 votes were required. Pawar suggested that Congress should allocate half of their remaining votes to the Thackeray faction and the other half to Jayant Patil.
However, due to the surplus of votes, they were being transferred incorrectly. If Congress's extra votes had been given to the Thackeray candidate and the Shiv Sena's secondary votes to the PWPI, all three candidates could have been elected. This miscalculation, according to Pawar, led to Jayant Patil's defeat.
