Sharad Pawar Calls Meeting of NCP Leaders, Lawmakers on June 1

Mumbai: NCP president Sharad Pawar has convened a meeting of his party's leaders and lawmakers to take stock of the political situation in Maharashtra after the NCP-Congress combine's poor showing in the just held Lok Sabha elections.

The NCP-Congress combine bagged only five of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra where the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena alliance's tally stood at an impressive 41.

The meeting called by Pawar will take place on June 1 at the Y B Chavan Centre here where MPs, MLAs and important leaders will be present, state NCP spokesman Nawab Malik said here on Tuesday.

The NCP bagged four Lok Sabha seats and the Congress just one. An independent candidate supported by the Sharad Pawar-led party also won.

The Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Agadhi (VBA) garnered nearly 14.6 per cent votes and appears to have played a key role in the defeat of Congress-NCP candidates in eight to 10 seats.

After the Lok Sabha polls, Maharashtra is gearing up for the assembly elections slated before the year-end.