Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Anil Deshmukh denied that he had ever expressed desire to join the BJP. Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule had claimed earlier that Deshmukh had inquired about whether he could join the BJP before the last assembly polls.
Addressing a press conference here, Deshmukh claimed that Bawankule was quoting him out of context and he never wished to join the BJP.
Earlier, Anil Deshmukh alleged that when he was in jail, he was offered a deal for getting out, and had he accepted it, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government could not have lasted even 2.5 years.
You all know I was kept in jail for 14 months under false allegations. I had received an offer for a deal. Had I accepted, I wouldn't have been in jail. The MVA government would have got toppled even before 2.5 years, if I had accepted the offer, but I didn't go for settlement, he added.
Deshmukh, who was booked in connection with an alleged Rs 100-crore extortion case, was granted conditional bail by the Bombay High Court on December 12, 2022, on a bond of Rs 1 lakh.