Senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar on Thursday hinted that former Rajya Sabha MP Ranjitsinh Mohite-Patil’s decision to join the BJP was taken a while ago despite the fact that his father, NCP leader and Madha MP Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil, had been assured of a party ticket from the same parliamentary constituency. Vijaysinh had also stopped taking calls from senior party leaders, said Pawar. Addressing party workers on Thursday, Pawar said senior party leaders had insisted that Sharad Pawar should contest from Madha, but the NCP chief was in favour of allowing Mohite-Patil to recontest from the seat and had made this clear in the party meeting. “I don’t know what happened after that. Mohite-Patil stopped taking calls of party leaders,” said Pawar. On Wednesday, Ranjitsinh had quit the NCP and joined the BJP, and his father is expected to do so soon. Vijaysinh, one of the most prominent leaders of the NCP in the state, had said that he endorsed his son’s decision. Click here for more election stories Pawar further said that the NCP had also held talks with Sujay Vikhe-Patil, son of senior Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, who wanted to contest the Ahmednagar seat. As per the seat-sharing arrangement between the NCP and Congress, candidates from NCP contest from Ahmednagar. In a major blow to the opposition alliance, Sujay joined the BJP recently. “I don't know what went wrong,” said Pawar on Sujay’s decision to join the BJP. Read | NCP says no formal alliance with MNS The NCP leader urged party workers to carry out an intense campaign for the Congress-NCP candidate. “Instead of going to other areas for campaigning, party workers should work in their respective areas. It is no time to sleep. all the available time should be used for campaigning,” said Pawar.
