Sharad Pawar says idea of supporting BJP not NCP decision

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday clarified that the decision of going with BJP to form the government in Maharashtra is of his nephew Ajit Pawar, who took as Deputy Chief Minister today.

"Ajit Pawar's decision to support the BJP to form the Maharashtra Government is his personal decision and not that of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). We place on record that we do not support or endorse this decision of his," Sharad Pawar tweeted.

Earlier, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday took oath for the second term and said that he will provide a stable government in the state following entering into an alliance with the NCP.

"I would like to express my gratitude to NCP's Ajit Pawar ji for taking the decision and coming together with BJP for a stable government in Maharashtra. Some other leaders also came with us and we staked claim to form the government. After that, we have also staked claim to Governor for the government formation," Fadnavis told exclusively to ANI soon after taking the oath.

Fadnavis also hit out at his former ally Shiv Sena and said that they tried to stitch an alliance with other parties even when the people gave a clear mandate.

"People had given us a clear mandate, but Shiv Sena tried to ally with other parties after results, as a result, President's rule was imposed. This is not right for the state. That is why Maharashtra needed a stable government not a 'khichdi' government," he said.

BJP, with 105 seats forged alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party which bagged 54 seats to garner the majority figure.

NCP's Ajit Pawar took oath as Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra.

The move came at a time when deliberations between Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena seemingly reached the final stage on Friday. Earlier, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar had claimed that there was a consensus on Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray as chief minister of the alliance government.

Shiv Sena bagged 56 seats while 44 seats went to Congress in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly.

The BJP, which emerged as the single largest party, could not stake claim to form a government as its ally Shiv Sena remained firm on rotating the Chief Minister's post and equal sharing of Cabinet berths.

Shiv Sena parted its ways with BJP to explore ways to form a government. It, however, failed to prove the support of the required number of MLAs in the time given by state Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.

The Governor had then invited NCP, the third-largest party, to prove its ability to form the government failing which President's Rule was imposed in the state.