NCP leadership struggles to hold together the party as Ajit Pawar sits on the fence
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Mumbai: Speculations are running rife in Maharashtra that senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar is sitting on the fence, waiting of an opportune moment to cross over to the BJP camp.
Ajit Pawar and NCP chief Sharad Pawar, however, on Tuesday denied the reports of Ajit’s probable switching of sides, calling them as ‘ rumours’.
The crisis for NCP comes more than three years after Ajit Pawar formed a short-lived government with the BJP in Maharashtra.
As with Ajit’s potential switching, NCP was a hive of activity yesterday after the Opposition leaders of MVA alliance including Sharad Pawar, party MP Supriya Sule, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray and his party MP Sanjay Raut convened a conference call, according to The Indian Express.
Conspicuously enough, Ajit Pawar, who is the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, was absent from the meeting.
Reports say that several of the NCP MLAs came to the Vidhan Bhawan in Mumbai to meet Ajit Pawar.
Ajit Pawar’s loyalists made no secret of accepting decisions that he will take, further fuelling the rumours of a potential rift in NCP.
Eventually Ajit Pawar came out to clarify in the afternoon that rumours are being spread against him.
It all began last week after ‘ it surfaced that the Enforcement Directorate had not named Ajit Pawar in a money laundering case related to to Jarandeshwar Sugar Mills Pvt Ltd’ The Indian Express reported. However, his wife is reportedly the majority shareholder in the company.
Alongside, another factor to precipitate the situation is that in May the Supreme Court will deliver its verdict on a plea seeking the disqualification of 16 Shiv Sena MLAs, including Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
An adverse situation befalling the BJP-Sena government might force the alliance to seek additional support.
It is here Ajit Pawar with the support of NCP MLAs offering support to him emerge in the picture.
Despite reports point at a potential rift, Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule said there was “no truth” in the reports of Ajit Pawar joining hands with the BJP.