‘Will remain with NCP’: Ajit Pawar dispels rumours about joining BJP

“We all MLAs will remain with the NCP and will work under the leadership of Sharad Pawar saheb,” he added.

Both NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and daughter and MP Supriya Sule had said that there was “no truth” in speculation that Ajit Pawar was set to defect.

The speculation about Ajit Pawar drifting towards BJP, like he did in 2019 by teaming up with Devendra Fadnavis to form a government, was triggered after reports that the Enforcement Directorate had not named him in its chargesheet in a money laundering case related to Jarandeshwar Sugar Mills Pvt Ltd, in which a company linked to the NCP leader and his wife is a majority shareholder.

On Tuesday, Ajit Pawar appealed to NCP workers to not get confused over the “unsubstantiated” news reports and gossip about him. Reports about 40 NCP MLAs signing a letter of support to him are false, he said, asking party workers to continue working in their area and strengthen the party. “If we have to take any step then we will declare it openly. There is no need to hide,” Ajit Pawar added.

He said that no one has ever said or expressed that he or anyone else would join BJP and these things are only being said and discussed in media reports.

On speculation of some MLAs meeting him at Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai to carve out a ‘rebellion strategy’, Ajit Pawar said, “MLAs come and meet me for routine work. They always come. But today this is being projected for the wrong reasons. I want to tell my workers that there is no truth in these discussions. There is no reason to get confused.”

Slamming Shiv Sena (UBT) MP and spokesperson Sanjay Raut and a column written by him in party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, Ajit Pawar without naming Raut, said, “There are people who are not in NCP who are making statements about the NCP. They are behaving as if they are the spokesperson of NCP and speaking about our party affairs. I am going to raise this issue in the party meeting.”

“You should remain your party’s spokesperson and should not try to be NCP’s spokesperson. You write about your party’s stand in your mouthpiece. Why are you quoting us and writing about our party? We are capable enough to present our side and stand. We don’t need anyone’s vakalatnama. We have our own spokespersons…they and leaders of our party are capable of presenting our party’s side,” Ajit Pawar said.