Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut claimed Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief chief Sharad Pawar recently told Uddhav Thackeray that his party will never join hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) even if anyone takes an individual decision to do so.
According to a report of PTI, Raut made the comments in his weekly column Rokhthok in the party mouthpiece Saamana in the wake of speculations that senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar may break ranks to join hands with the ruling BJP in the state, amid a plea seeking disqualification of 16 MLAs of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena pending before the Supreme Court.
However, Ajit Pawar, who is the leader of opposition in the state Assembly, dubbed such speculations as baseless and denied meeting Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah in Mumbai on Saturday night.
He further claimed that Sharad Pawar during the meeting with former chief minister Thackeray said he would like to tell those who want to switch over that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) “files” will go in a cupboard from the table, but will never be closed.
There are speculations in political circles about what would be the future move of Ajit Pawar and the senior NCP leader should himself clarify, Raut said. He said a sugar mill belonging to Ajit Pawar’s family was raided and seized by the ED. But, now the chargesheet doesn’t have any mention of Ajit Pawar or his family members.
What happened to the allegations of money laundering in the purchase of the sugar mill. Were the raids and allegations just for political pressure? the Sena (UBT) leader asked. Sharad Pawar’s another associate (former Maharashtra minister) Hasan Mushrif was also being targeted by central probe agencies, Raut added.