Udayanraje Bhosale meets Pawar amid talk of joining BJP

Amid speculation that he may join the BJP, the Nationalist Congress Party's Satara MP Udayanraje Bhosale met NCP supremo Sharad Pawar here Thursday.

The meeting at Pawar's residence came two days after Bhosale, a descendant of warrior king Shivaji, met Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai.

NCP leader Dhananjay Munde told reporters later that Bhosale met Pawar about the upcoming Assembly polls.

"Today's meeting was about the party's overall campaign strategy," Munde said.

Asked whether the meeting will end the speculation about Bhosale joining the ruling party, Munde said the NCP MP himself had never made any statement about quitting.

"Some sections of the BJP were deliberately spreading rumours about his crossing over, to divert people's attention from key issues," Munde claimed.

But a senior leader, requesting anonymity, said it was not yet clear whether Bhosale will stay with the NCP.

"Pawar probably has his biggest following in Satara. It will be too difficult for Bhosale to quit NCP and get re-elected on another party's ticket from there," he said.

Last month, Bhosale had lavished praise on chief minister Fadnavis for pushing development works in Satara. He also accused the previous Congress-NCP government of creating "obstacles" in the development of his constituency.

Bhosale, one of the four NCP MPs in Maharashtra, had also said that he will have to take a decision keeping in mind the interest of his constituents.

Recently, his cousin and NCP's Satara MLA Shivendrasinh Bhosale joined the BJP.

On Wednesday, former state minister and NCP's Navi Mumbai strongman Ganesh Naik joined the saffron party.