BJP and Shiv Sena working to drive Ajit Pawar-led NCP out of Mahayuti: Raut

PTI, Sep 23, 2024, 5:09 PM IST

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday claimed the BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena are systematically working to oust Ajit Pawar-led NCP from the Mahayuti alliance ahead of the assembly elections.

Mahayuti allies BJP and NCP rejected Raut’s claims and accused the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi of “spreading rumours” out of insecurity over winnability prospects at the hustings.

“The BJP is adopting the use and throw strategy. The BJP and Shinde-led Shiv Sena are systematically taking steps to oust Ajit Pawar-led NCP,” Raut told reporters.

He claimed chief minister Eknath Shinde should keep in mind that the BJP’s next target might be Shiv Sena led by him.

NCP state unit president Sunil Tatkare refuted Raut’s claims, saying the BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP will face elections as a united alliance.

“These rumours should not be taken seriously. The BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP are together and will continue to contest the elections as one alliance,” Tatkare said.

He said the Opposition is making such statements realising that they stand no chance to return to power after elections.

Senior MLA Ashish Shelar also scotched “rumours” about the Bharatiya Janata Party contemplating to part ways with the NCP, indicating that the Opposition MVA was spreading such speculations.

In a counterattack, Shelar, who heads the Mumbai BJP unit, claimed the Congress and the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) have discussed contesting the assembly elections without taking help from Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT).

“The talks that BJP would part ways with the Ajit Pawar-led NCP are merely rumours. The opposition MVA has lost the ground to challenge us, they have lost the steam to put up a fight. The sand is slipping from under their feet given the growing support of people to the Mahayuti government,” Shelar told reporters.

He claimed NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and Congress had snubbed Uddhav Thackeray who was keen to project himself as the chief ministerial face of the Maha Vikas Aghadi.

“Uddhav met Congress leaders in Delhi with the agenda to make them announce the name of the next CM face of MVA. But, he was snubbed by Sharad Pawar and cold-shouldered by Congress,” Shelar claimed.

The talks on the political utility of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP keep surfacing intermittently in light of the BJP’s dismal performance in the Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra and ahead of the upcoming assembly elections.

After the BJP’s tally fell to 9 in Maharashtra in the general elections, an RSS-linked Marathi weekly blamed Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) as one of the reasons behind the poor performance.

Ajit Pawar rebelled against his uncle and political mentor Sharad Pawar in July 2023 to join the Mahayuti government.

However, the gambit boomeranged in the Lok Sabha elections with the NCP winning just a single seat, in contrast to 8 constituencies bagged by the faction led by the Pawar senior.

This electoral setback pushed Ajit Pawar to the backfoot, apparently reducing the bargaining power of NCP for the assembly elections vis-a-vis the Shiv Sena and BJP.

Ajit Pawar had said the Mahayuti alliance has completed its first round of seat-sharing talks for the upcoming assembly polls and his party, which is growing in strength, is aiming to contest 60 seats.