Pune: NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Friday said he wanted the MVA to contest the civic polls together and senior members from his party, along with those from Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), Peasants and Workers Party, and other parties, will soon sit together and deliberate on the alliance formula.Hinting at Sena (UBT) getting a bigger share in Mumbai, Pawar said, “Among MVA partners, Uddhav Thackeray’s party is in a stronger position in Mumbai. Though a decision on the alliance is yet to be made, we will have to consider his party’s strength.”He said that after the SC verdict, civic elections cannot be delayed any further. “We assume that the process for the polls will begin in the next three months. We wish to go with the alliance, but no decision has been taken so far,” Pawar told reporters.Without naming his nephew and deputy CM Ajit Pawar, he criticised the incident where the Pune District Central Co-operative Bank was kept open in Baramati till 11 pm on Wednesday. The Sharad Pawar-backed panel will take on Ajit Pawar’s panel in Baramati’s Malegaon cooperative sugar factory election on Sunday.Pawar said, “During Lok Sabha elections, the bank was found open till late night, and this is the second instance. Unless instructions are given by those who control the bank, why would bank employees keep it open? It is only during the election phase, and for the second time, that bank employees feel like serving the people till late at night.”While many in opposition have criticised the state for bringing in Hindi as the third language from Std I indirectly, Pawar tool a cautious stand, saying, “There should not be a compulsion to learn Hindi, but students cannot ignore the language. Nearly 55% to 60% of the country’s population speaks Hindi, and there is no issue in learning the language to have better communication. But there should not be any compulsion.“
