UPDATE | 'No truth…': Ajit Pawar dismisses talk of BJP and '40 MLAs' report
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday dismissed speculation about his nephew and former Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar's next political move and said no meeting of NCP MLAs has been called by anyone.
Sharad Pawar's comments come a day after Ajit Pawar also dismissed as false the reports that he has called a meeting of MLAs on Tuesday, amid intense speculation in Maharashtra's political circles about his growing proximity with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Speaking to the reporters in Purandar area of Maharashtra's Pune district, Sharad Pawar said whatever discussions are going on in the minds of the media are not there in "our minds". "...There is no importance of all these discussions. The reports have no meaning. I can say about the NCP that all our colleagues are of one thinking of how to make the party stronger, and there is no other thought in anybody's mind," the party chief said.
Earlier, The New Indian Express reported that Ajit Pawar’s efforts to become Eknath Shinde’s successor as Maharashtra chief minister in alliance with the BJP was gaining momentum with the former collecting consent signatures from his lawmakers within his party.
{{/usCountry}}Earlier, The New Indian Express reported that Ajit Pawar’s efforts to become Eknath Shinde’s successor as Maharashtra chief minister in alliance with the BJP was gaining momentum with the former collecting consent signatures from his lawmakers within his party.
{{/usCountry}}“About 40 of the 53 NCP MLAs have given their consent signatures so far. The list would be presented to the governor when the time arrives,” said the newspaper quotes a “well placed source” in the party as saying.
The newspaper added that while Ajit Pawar was calling up NCP MLAs personally to seek their signatures, Sharad Pawar didn't make any counter move yet. In 2019, after Ajit bolted, Sharad Pawar had called up all NCP lawmakers to keep his party intact.
Meanwhile, two MLAs from the Ajit Pawar camp had come out openly in support of the leader even as Sharad Pawar launched a damage-control exercise.
NCP MLAs Anna Bansode and Manikrao Kokate – both considered close to Ajit – said they will remain loyal to him no matter what. Speaking to news channel TV9 Marathi, Bansode said: “I had extended full support to Ajit Pawar even in November 2019 when he tried to form a government with the BJP incumbent CM Devendra Fadnavis. I am still loyal to him and will stand by him in whatever decision he may take in the future.”
Sharad Pawar, whose party is a constituent of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) which also comprises the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress, dismissed reports of a meeting of NCP MLAs being called in Mumbai and said no one has called such a meeting. "The party's state president (Jayant Patil) is busy with a local election in his region, and another party leader Ajit Pawar is also busy with the work of the party and providing guidance to everyone," he said.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Bal Thackeray) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut said, "These are baseless rumours. I spoke with him (Ajit Pawar) and other (NCP) leaders this morning."
"If those spreading such canards think that they can weaken the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) by resorting to such ploys, then they are mistaken," the Shiva Sena (UBT) MP added.
(With inputs from agencies)