There was a buzz about Ajit Pawar joining the BJP after the NCP leader recently hailed the leadership of PM Modi while adding he had full faith in EVMs.
Senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar has finally broken the silence on rumours of splits in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and him joining BJP. The NCP leader on Tuesday said he would work for his party till he is alive. He refuted speculation that he and a group of MLAs loyal to him might align with the ruling BJP.
Talking to reporters in Mumbai, the Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly, said there is not an iota of truth in reports about any rift in NCP and his joining hands with the BJP. "We (party MLAs) are all with the NCP. I will work for the NCP till I live," Pawar added.
Earlier today, Ajit Pawar`s uncle and NCP chief Sharad Pawar tweeted, "Ajit Pawar is busy with election-related work. All this talk is only in the media." Ajit Pawar also in a tweet issued a stout denial of the news reports, "There are some media reports saying that I have convened a meeting of the (NCP) MLAs on Tuesday. This is completely false. I wish to clarify that I have not called a meeting of my party MLAs and office bearers."
This comes just days after the BJP's Maharashtra chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule brushed off speculations linking Ajit Pawar to the ruling camp, saying he wasn`t aware of any such move. He further clarified that the Sharad Pawar-led NCP hasn`t held any discussions with him in this connection.
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"I don`t have any information about him joining the BJP or having talks with anyone in the party. He has not held any discussions with me," Bawankule had told ANI. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Bal Thackeray) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut said on Tuesday, "These are baseless rumours. I spoke with him (Ajit Pawar) and other (NCP) leaders this morning."
There was a buzz about Ajit Pawar joining the BJP after the NCP leader recently hailed the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi while adding he had full faith in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), in a remark seen as a departure from the Opposition line on the subject.
Backing the EVMs, Ajit Pawar had said if the devices were faulty, there would not be any Opposition-ruled states. He cited the governments of West Bengal and Telangana and other states as examples to support his argument.
(With inputs from agencies)
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