Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar insisted Tuesday there is 'no truth' to rumours he is about to join the Bharatiya Janata Party and declared dramatically he would continue working for the NCP for as long as he lived.
"I am with NCP… not going anywhere… nobody (has) taken signatures of any MLAs. These are baseless speculations," the ex-deputy chief minister of Maharashtra said. "I have not taken signatures of MLAs. Rumours must stop."
The declaration comes amid persistent talk that Ajit Pawar and a group of loyal MLAs might quit the NCP and join the BJP, which is allied with chief minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena faction and is in power in the western state.
"We are all with NCP. I will work for NCP till I live," he told reporters.
The younger Pawar - his uncle is NCP supremo Sharad Pawar - also criticised the media and said its reports had led to confusion in the party's ranks.
There had been talk Ajit Pawar had signatures from 40 of the NCP's 53 MLAs who were ready to join him in switching allegiance to the ruling BJP.
{{/usCountry}}There had been talk Ajit Pawar had signatures from 40 of the NCP's 53 MLAs who were ready to join him in switching allegiance to the ruling BJP.
{{/usCountry}}The NCP is allied with what is now ex-chief minister Uddhav Thackeray's Sena faction and the Congress, and ruled Maharashtra as the Maha Vikas Aghadi till the BJP-backed rebellion last year led by Sena faction leader Eknath Shinde.
"I want to tell them (NCP workers) … 'don't worry, NCP was formed under leadership of Sharad Pawar, and there have been times when we have been in power or in opposition'," Ajit Pawar said today as the rumours spread.
Pawar's firm denial came hours after uncle and NCP boss Sharad Pawar dismissed similar talk and said no meeting of the party's MLAs had been called.
Sharad Pawar - a veteran credited with engineering the alliance between the then-united Sena, the Congress and his party - also criticised the media.
"... there is no importance of all these discussions. The reports have no meaning… our colleagues are (united in working) to make the party stronger."
"There is no other thought in anybody's mind."
READ | 40 MLAs back Ajit Pawar for NCP-BJP alliance? Sharad Pawar responds
On Monday Ajit Pawar had dismissed as false media reports stating he had called a meeting of NCP lawmakers; a report by The New Indian Express, which Hindustan Times could not independently verify, said the nephew had gathered the support of 40 MLAs and was ready to join hands with the BJP.
The report also claimed Sharad Pawar had made no effort to counter this, leading to talk he might, in fact, be on-board with the Cong-to-BJP jump.
READ | Sharad Pawar in damage control amid buzz over nephew Ajit's move
Back in 2019 Ajit Pawar did walk out on his uncle and the MVA to join with the BJP and form - for less than three days - the Maharashtra government; he was made deputy chief minister then too. That rebellion was short-lived as several NCP lawmakers whose support he claimed - and whose support the BJP needed to make their majority bid stick - re-affirmed their loyalty to Sharad Pawar.
Meanwhile, from the Sena camp, Sanjay Raut, who is Uddhav Thackeray's close aide, also backed Ajit Pawar. "These are baseless rumours. I spoke with him and other (NCP) leaders this morning… if those spreading such canards think they can weaken the MVA… they are mistaken," he declared.