NCP not joining BJP: Sharad Pawar

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) President Sharad Pawar on Monday reiterated that there was no question of his party joining the BJP as it “does not fit with the national policy of NCP".

Addressing reported, the 83-year-old NCP chief made it clear that nobody from his faction would go with the BJP, scotching all speculation on this count in the past couple of days.

“Some of our colleagues have taken a different stand on this issue… Our ‘well-wishers’ are making such efforts… As the national president of NCP, I state that NCP will not go with the BJP,” declared Pawar.

He also said that the NCP state President Jayant Patil’s relative was served a notice from the Enforcement Directorate (EC) to push him to the BJP.

“The central agencies are being misused… Patil’s kin has been sent an ED notice to pressurise him…,” Pawar said.

The NCP leader’s statements came after he and Patil had separate meetings with NCP (AP) leader and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar over the weekend, sparking political rumours.

Sharad Pawar said that Ajit is his nephew and he met him as the father-figure of the family and wondered why it should become the topic of such baseless discussions in the media.

The meetings elicited sharp reactions from Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) partner Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut who rued that such repeated actions “create confusion” among the allies and the political workers down the line.

Sharad Pawar said with a tone of finality that the MVA is united and there is no cause for confusion among the allies, Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT), as its ideology is opposed to the BJP.

The NCP supremo arrived in his home town of Baramati on his first visit nearly six weeks after the party split with Ajit Pawar going separately on July 1, and joining the ruling Shiv Sena-BJP government as a Deputy Chief Minister on July 2.