The 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections are going to be one of the most crucial and memorable elections. The election will be primarily fought between two alliances — the Maha Vikas Aghadi and the Mahayuti. Although smaller parties with big names, such as Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, Akbaruddin Owaisi’s AIMIM, and Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi (VBA) are also in the fray, they are unlikely to make a significant dent into the vote banks of the bigger parties. The biggest challenge for the constituent parties of the alliances would be to deal with their own partners.

Irrespective of the alliance that wins, the 2024 election will have a big impact on the future of Maharashtra. The five years between the 2019 polls and the upcoming one have been marked with great political instability, crises, backstabbing, splitting of parties, rise and fall of governments — you name it and the state had it.

Despite all the haggling and parleys, both alliances seem to be dealing with their own set of differences. While the rift in the Mahayuti was already out in the open, the BJP-led MVA was trying to put up a united face. But ABP News’s exclusive interaction with NCP (Sharad Pawar) leader Supriya Sule indicated that the Opposition alliance is not free from its own differences.

Supriya Sule On Rahul Gandhi And Savarkar

Supriya Sule seemed to differ from the Congress on the Savarkar issue. While Rahul Gandhi has repeatedly opposed Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and his ideology, Supriya Sule praised the latter. Rahul Gandhi’s varied remarks against Savarkar include calling him “maafiveer“. Rahul Gandhi also allegedly mentioned in a speech in London that Savarkar had expressed pride over thrashing a Muslim once. Due to this, Savarkar’s grandnephew Satyaki Savarkar even lodged a defamation case against the Congress leader.

#WATCH | Pune, Maharashtra: On the defamation case on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, grandnephew of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Satyaki Savarkar says, “So the case was filed last April. It’s been almost a year now. The court has given direction to the police to verify the proofs… pic.twitter.com/rO5ZYNlSl6

— ANI (@ANI) April 4, 2024

During the interaction, Supriya Sule told ABP News: “Rahul Gandhi has his own views, but I have my own opinion. I feel Savarkar’s stance on beef is commendable.”

Maharashtra leaders, even those from the Congress, have been uneasy with Rahul Gandhi and other leaders speaking against Savarkar.

Supriya Sule On Sharad Pawar And Gautam Adani

The Gautam Adani topic has been the centre of heated political discussions in Maharashtra right before the elections. While Sharad Pawar has claimed that a meeting in 2019 was held with leaders of various parties at industrialist Gautam Adani’s home in Delhi, his nephew Ajit Pawar has said that one meeting was held that year in Maharashtra at a guesthouse linked to the Adanis.

While Ajit Pawar, the chief of the ‘real’ NCP, said that Gautam Adani was not present in any of the meetings held between the political leaders of the state, Sharad Pawar claimed Gautam Adani hosted the Delhi dinner but wasn’t part of political discussions.

On this, Sule said: “When Sharad Pawarji is saying, the meeting must have taken place at the Adani home. But who knows what transpired at the meeting? But I don’t think government formation was discussed at the meeting; it was just a dinner.”  

Supriya Sule On ‘Batenge To Katenge’

Supriya Sule said that Ajit Pawar was only putting up an act for political reasons by pretending to oppose UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s ‘batenge to katenge [divided we shall be cut]’ slogan. “He has no problem with the slogan of the BJP. Just the other day he was smiling and clicking photos with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I fail to grasp how they run an alliance selectively,” Sule said.

Supriya Sule On First Diwali Without Cousin Ajit Pawar

Supriya Sule said that her mother, Pratibha Pawar, had invited both Ajit Pawar and his wife Sunetra for Diwali. “But they did not come… Ajit has been avoiding my calls and WhatsApp texts for the last 1.5 years. I want to talk to him, but he doesn’t. Had Ajit asked for the reins of the party, he would have been in charge. But he chose to go with the BJP.”