With Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao-led BRS trying to expand its base in Maharashtra, senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar on Monday said even Mayawati and Mulayam Singh Yadav had tried to gain a toehold in the western state but couldn’t succeed. Pawar also said Rao is perhaps trying to expand BRS (Bharat Rashtra Samithi) outside Telangana as he might want to become a national leader.

He said regional parties can strengthen themselves outside their home states.

“The Telangana chief minister now wants to gain a foothold in Maharashtra. As chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati and Mulayam Singh Yadav had tried to expand their respective parties here but they couldn’t get desired results,” Pawar said.

No doubt, some MLAs (from BSP and SP) got elected, the Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly said.

“Rao is Telangana CM but who is going to see the work of his party here in Maharashtra? Some leaders from NCP and other parties are joining BRS but that is happening out of concern that they might not get tickets to contest due to the alliance in MVA and the one between BJP and Shiv Sena,” he said.

Pawar also questioned the spending for putting up big hoardings of BRS in Maharashtra and TV advertisements. Rao, popularly known as KCR, held rallies in Nanded in Maharashtra recently and slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre and the state for neglecting farmers and the downtrodden. The BRS last month began its drive to form party committees in the western state.

Asked about Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar visiting Aurangzeb’s tomb, Pawar said he (Ambedkar) can go anywhere as per his conscience.

“However, his visit to Aurangzeb’s tomb has not gone down well with ‘Shivpremis’ (followers of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj). Everyone knows the general opinion of people in Maharashtra about Aurangzeb,” he said.

Ambedkar is the grandson of Babasaheb Ambedkar and the Constitution written by him has given us the right to go anywhere “but it is up to that person how to use that right”, Pawar added.