'I'm with NCP, rumours must stop': Ajit Pawar slams talks of defection to BJP

Dismissing speculations of a split in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), senior party leader and former Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar has said there is 'no truth in rumours' of him joining the BJP.

“I am with NCP, will remain with the party,” Ajit said on Tuesday, shortly after his uncle and party supremo Sharad Pawar brushed aside reports of a meeting of NCP MLAs willing to shift to the ruling Eknath Shinde-BJP alliance. Sharad Pawar added that they were focused on strengthening the NCP.

“I have not taken the signatures of any MLAs,” Ajit told ANI on Tuesday.

Sharad Pawar also dismissed reports of the meeting of MLAs. "The party's state president (Jayant Patil) is busy with market committee elections in his region. Ajit Pawar, is also busy with the work of the party and providing guidance to everyone," he added.

Rumours about Ajit Pawar's next political move started swirling last week when he suddenly cancelled his scheduled meetings and also made comments which were seen as being soft on the BJP and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's camp. Meanwhile, two NCP MLAs—Anna Bansode and Manikrao Kokate—also added to the buzz with their comments that they will remain loyal to their leader Ajit Pawar no matter what "decision" he takes in the coming days.

One of the legislators, Manikrao, even said if the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly joins hands with the BJP, most of the NCP MLAs (numbering 53) will go with him. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday claimed NCP chief Sharad Pawar recently told former CM Uddhav Thackeray that his party will never join hands with the BJP even if someone in the party takes an individual decision to do so.

Raut also stated that the BJP was trying to break the NCP, but will not succeed.

The recent political buzz around Ajit Pawar brings back memories of 2019 when he joined hands with Devendra Fadnavis to form a government, albeit short-lived. The Fadnavis-Ajit Pawar government lasted for only three days as they did not have the numbers, and it was followed by the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress 'Maha Vikas Aghadi’ government.