No space for NCP in NDA: Shiv Sena

Sharad Pawar is not welcome in the NDA, Shiv Sena said today making it clear that there is no space for NCP in the BJP-led alliance at the Centre or in Maharashtra.

"We will not allow NCP to come to NDA. There is no space for Sharad Pawar's party in the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance in Maharashtra," Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut told PTI.

Raut's remarks came close on the heels of a media report that Pawar had a meeting with BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi here, which has been slammed as "completely mischievous" and "baseless" by the NCP chief.

"Neither our doors nor our windows are open," Raut remarked when asked about NCP leaders like D P Tripathi saying that options are open for the party. NCP is the second largest constituent of the Congress-led UPA.

Asked about statements of some NCP leaders like Praful Patel which appeared soft on Modi, he said it was a good thing. "The UPA has become a sinking ship, and when the ship starts sinking, the rats are first to desert it," the Shiv Sena leader said.

Raut said that at a mega rally held in Kolhapur district in Maharashtra yesterday by the leaders of Shiv Sena, BJP, RPI and Swabhimani Sanghtana, it was declared that their struggle was against the Congress-NCP Government in the state.

NCP is in alliance with Congress and sharing power in Maharashtra since 1999 after Pawar parted ways with Congress on the issue of Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin.

NCP is part of the UPA at the Centre for the past 10 years.