Ajit Pawar-led NCP trying to poach rival faction MPs, claims Sanjay Raut

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday claimed that the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) was trying to engineer defections in the rival NCP (SP), promising its leaders berths in the union cabinet.

Raut's comment came after NCP leader Amol Mitkati said that some Lok Sabha members from the Sharad Pawar-led NCP were in contact with Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.  NCP (SP) MLA and former state minister Jitendra Awhad also alleged that Sunil Tatkare, state chief of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, had asked MPs of the rival faction to "leave the father and daughter". Tatkare's reaction to these claims was awaited. Speaking to reporters, Raut alleged that senior NCP leader Praful Patel and Tatkare had been assigned the task of engineering defections in the Sharad Pawar-led faction. At present, the Ajit-led NCP has only one Lok Sabha MP, Tatkare, while the rival NCP (SP) has eight Lok Sabha members.

"The party (NCP) will not get any post in the Union government unless they manage to secure defections from the Sharad Pawar-led faction," said Raut. Elsewhere, when asked about the possibility of the two NCP factions coming together, Jitendra Awhad said, "If both NCPs are to come together, why did Sunil Tatkare make an offer to our Lok Sabha members to switch sides? His offer was to 'leave father-daughter aside and come to us'....I think Tatkare himself does not want both the Pawars to reunite."  Tatkare's purported "father-daughter" remark referred to Sharad Pawar and his daughter, Baramati MP Supriya Sule. Awhad also claimed that the reports of imminent reunion of the two NCP factions was aimed at putting pressure on BJP ally and JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar, by sending a message that the BJP government at the Centre could get support from other quarters.