**Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sharad Pawar on June 4 said that a meeting of the Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) group of parties was likely in Delhi on June 5. To a question on who would be the next PM, Mr. Pawar said, “We have not given it a thought. I am not sure if the INDIA alliance can form government. We will meet tomorrow and take a decision unanimously on the future course of action,” he said.
“I spoke to Mallikarjun Kharge and Sitaram Yechury. The INDIA alliance meeting is likely to be held in Delhi tomorrow. Final decision is expected to be taken by this evening. Accordingly, I will be in Delhi,” news agency PTI quoted Mr. Pawar as saying.
On June 3, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh too said that the INDIA bloc leaders will meet after the results. “INDIA leaders will obviously meet after the results are declared. Any other meaning being given to it is completely misleading and false,” Mr. Ramesh said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
Mr. Pawar’s NCPSP was leading in at least seven seats as of 3.45 p.m. and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance, of which the NCPSP is a part, was leading in at least 29 out of the total 48 seats in Maharashtra.
Mr. Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule was leading in stronghold Baramati by a margin of over 20,000 votes, as of 3.45p.m. Her contender, Sunetra Pawar, wife of Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, was trailing with over 1,93,000 votes.
MVA partners Congress was leading in 12 seats and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) was leading in 10 seats as of 3.45 p.m.
Meanwhile, the ruling BJP was leading in 11 seats and Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena was leading in 6 seats as of the same time.
