NCP will never join BJP: Sharad Pawar told Uddhav Thackeray, claims Sanjay Raut

Sanjay Raut, leader of Shiv Sena (UBT) faction has claimed that Nationalist Congress Party(NCP) chief Sharad Pawar has recently told former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray that his party will never join hands with Bhartiya Janata Part(BJP) even though someone may join at thier individual capacity. The senior leader of the UBT faction made the comments in his weekly column 'Rokhthok' in the party mouthpiece Saamana in the wake of speculations that senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar may break ranks to join hands with the ruling BJP in the state, amid a plea seeking disqualification of 16 MLAs of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena pending before the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, Ajit Pawar has dubbed such speculations as baseless and denied having a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Ajit Pawar is also the leader of opposition in Maharashtra. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Thackeray's Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Congress are constituents of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in the state. Raut in the Marathi publication claimed, "(Sharad) Pawar told Uddhav Thackeray during their meeting (on Tuesday) that nobody wants to switch over. But, family is being targeted. If anyone takes a personal decision to leave, it is their individual issue. But we as a party will never go with the BJP." "There is tremendous anger among people of Maharashtra against the present state government. Any one joining the BJP will be committing political suicide. This is want Thackeray and Pawar felt," the Rajya Sabha member wrote.

Sanjay Raut further claimed that Sharad Pawar during the meeting with former chief minister Thackeray said he would like to tell those who want to switch over that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) "files" will go in a cupboard from the table, but will never be closed. There are speculations in political circles about what would be the future move of Ajit Pawar and the senior NCP leader should himself clarify, Raut said.

He said a sugar mill belonging to Ajit Pawar's family was raided and seized by the ED. But, now the chargesheet doesn't have any mention of Ajit Pawar or his family members. ''What happened to the allegations of money laundering in the purchase of the sugar mill. Were the raids and allegations just for political pressure?'' the Sena (UBT) leader asked. Sharad Pawar's another associate (former Maharashtra minister) Hasan Mushrif was also being targeted by central probe agencies, Raut added. Meanwhile, state minister Dada Bhuse, who belongs to the Shinde-led Shiv Sena on Sunday said, "Ajit Pawar is restless in the NCP for several years. We all know it.