NCP chief Sharad Pawar gave his consent to party leader Ajit Pawar and was part of the discussion leading to the formation of a BJP-led government in Maharashtra, sources told .
"Ajit Pawar is the leader of Parliamentary board of NCP and no decision of NCP is taken without Sharad Pawar's assent," sources added.
NCP joining hands with BJP to form a government came as a big jolt to the efforts by Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena to cobble an alliance to bereft BJP of power corridors.
The move came at a time when deliberations between Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena seemingly reached the final stage on Friday.
Earlier, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar had claimed that there was a consensus on Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray as chief minister of the alliance government.
The BJP, which emerged as the single largest party, could not stake claim to form a government as its ally Shiv Sena remained firm on rotating the Chief Minister's post and equal sharing of Cabinet berths.
Shiv Sena parted its ways with BJP to explore ways to form a government. It, however, failed to prove the support of the required number of MLAs in the time given by state Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.
The Governor had then invited NCP, the third-largest party, to prove its ability to form the government failing which President's Rule was imposed in the state.
The BJP won 105 seats in the 288-member assembly followed by Shiv Sena 56, NCP 54 and Congress 44.
( With inputs from ANI )