New Delhi: NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday said the Opposition would project “collective leadership” in the Maharashtra Assembly polls scheduled in October, betraying his reluctance to project Uddhav Thackeray as the chief ministerial face of the alliance.

Uddhav, who heads the Shiv Sena (UBT) faction after the split in the party, was the chief minister when the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance ruled the state for more than two-and-a-half years from 2019-22.

His Sena faction now wants the Aghadi alliance comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT), the Congress and the NCP (SP) to go to the polls under his leadership. However, Pawar doesn’t appear keen, indicating a rift in the Opposition bloc.

“As Arjuna’s target (in the epic Mahabharata) was an eye (of a fish), our eyes are all set on the elections in Maharashtra. The Congress, NCP (SP) and Uddhav Thackeray’s Sena (UBT) will jointly contest the Assembly polls,” Pawar told reporters in Pune on Sunday.

“The Opposition will keep a collective face before the people,” he added, sidestepping the need for projecting a CM-face.

On Saturday, he had told reporters: “Our alliance is our collective face. One individual can’t become our CM-face. Collective leadership is our formula.”

Pawar, excited by his party’s better strike rate in the alliance in the Lok Sabha polls, appears to be keeping the option open for his party to claim the chief minister’s chair. His NCP faction contested the lowest number of 10 seats in the alliance and won 8. The Congress, too, performed better by bagging 13 of the 17 seats it contested in the alliance. However, the Sena (UBT) that fought the largest share of 21 seats could win only nine.

The Sena (UBT)’s poor performance in the Lok Sabha polls seems to have led both the Congress and the NCP (SP) to not commit the chief minister’s post to the party. This could, however, lead to strains in the alliance as the main reason behind Uddhav breaking his decades-old ties with the BJP was the denial of the CM post to him.

The seat-sharing deal for the Assembly polls could also lead to tension in the alliance as the Congress-NCP may not concede Sena’s role as the leader of the alliance using the party’s poor poll show as an excuse. Pawar on Sunday also pitched for inclusion of more anti-BJP parties in the alliance, a move that could undercut the Sena (UBT)’s claim to contest more seats.

Pawar’s “collective leadership” remark has come after claims by Sena Rajya Sabha member and spokesperson Sanjay Raut that the alliance should go to the polls under Uddhav’s leadership.

“It will be wrong on part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi not to project a CM-face,” Raut had told reporters in Delhi.

On his part, however, Uddhav is not pressing to be declared as the CM-face. Talking to reporters in Mumbai, Uddhav sought to downplay Raut’s comments. He said the Aghadi would announce their CM-face in due course and instead sought to turn the heat on the ruling Maha Yuti to announce their face first.