A camp of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) was held on Friday in Karjat. During this event, senior leader Praful Patel made shocking revelations, stating that in 2004, there were discussions about a possible alliance between the NCP and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Patel disclosed that meetings were held in Delhi, and everything seemed finalized at that time.
This revelation has triggered a political uproar, with accusations and counter-accusations dominating the political discourse. Meanwhile, Sharad Pawar, the NCP supremo, has now made revelations concerning this matter.
"Praful Patel came to my house and insisted for a few hours that we should align with the BJP. However, I told him that such things were not possible. I also conveyed that if they wanted to go, they were free to do so, after which they stopped.” Sharad Pawar also mentioned that despite losing the subsequent election, the party appointed him as a Union minister."
On Ajit Pawar declaring that his faction will contest the Baramati Lok Sabha seat -- currently represented by Supriya Sule -- Sharad Pawar said in democracy any person is free to contest from anywhere.
The Ajit Pawar faction, which joined the government of the BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena in Maharashtra in July this year, has claimed in the past that Pawar senior too was in favour of forming alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party at one point. In 2019, Ajit Pawar had taken an early morning oath of office as deputy chief minister along with Devendra Fadnavis who was sworn in as chief minister amid a deadlock over alliance formation after the assembly elections. But the Fadnavis-Ajit Pawar government collapsed within four days for want of numbers.