Former Gujarat Chief Minister and NCP leader Shankersinh Vaghela Thursday came out in support of Congress candidate from Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency C J Chavda, who is pitted against BJP president Amit Shah.
Speaking separately in Vadodara, Vaghela said UPA 3 government will be formed at the Centre after the Lok Sabha election results are announced on May 23.
Vaghela, a former Congress leader, addressed a rally in support of Chavda, a sitting MLA, at Sanand near Ahmedabad.
The former Chief Minister, who joined the NCP in January, came out in support of Chavda even when the Sharad Pawar-led party has not entered into a pre-poll alliance with the Congress in Gujarat for the Lok Sabha polls.
The Congress and the NCP had tried to stitch an alliance for the Lok Sabha polls in Gujarat, but their effort did not materialise.
The NCP is contesting on its own on seats like Patan and Surendranagar.
The Gujarat NCP was keen to contest on three seats with support of the Congress and there were talks of considering Vaghela as the party candidate from Panchmahal in central Gujarat.
The two parties are allies in neighbouring Maharashtra.
In July 2017, Vaghela had left the Congress and stepped down from the post of Leader of Opposition in the Gujarat Legislative Assembly.
Meanwhile, talking to PTI in Vadodara after an event Wednesday night, the NCP leader said the BJP will not come to power after the April-May elections.
The saffron outfit will find it difficult to touch the simple majority mark of 272 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha, Vaghela said.
He said he would campaign for Congress candidates in Gujarat, Maharashtra and other states where the NCP has not put up its nominees.
"I will go to Maharashtra for campaigning in support of NCP candidates. In Gandhinagar, I am campaigning for Congress candidate Chavda," Vaghela said.
He criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for diverting attention from issues like unemployment and farm distress and said he has failed to fulfil his pre-2014 poll promises.
Vaghela said demonetisation and GST have led to job losses and closure of 4 lakh small and medium scale units across the country.
Taking on Shah, the NCP leader said the BJP chief should explain how he got to know that "250 terrorists" were killed in the Indian Air Force's air strike at Balakot in Pakistan.
"We want proof of number of people killed in the air strike and it is the duty of the government to provide this information," he said.
Vaghela rejected Modi's claim that the opposition is demoralising the armed forces by asking for proof of the Balakot air strike.
He accused the BJP and its leaders of spreading "misinformation" over the air strike and said the people of the country would give them a befitting reply.
Vaghela sought to know how huge quantity of RDX could reach Pulwama despite the presence of security personnel in the area.
"Why is the prime minister not giving details and saying how many people died in the air strike," he asked.
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