"To shield themselves from ED investigation, NCP leaders...," Former Maharashtra CM

Karad (Maharashtra) [India], July 2 : Former Maharashtra Chief Minister, Prithviraj Chavan, on Sunday slammed Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar and his MLAs (Member of Legislative Assembly) over joining hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party alliance in Maharashtra government.

"Maharashtra people know the backgrounds of those who took oath as ministers in the Maharashtra cabinet today. Pawar Saheb made them leaders, MPs or MLAs. Now, in order to shield themselves from ED's investigation, they joined hands with the BJP", the former Maharashtra CM told ANI.

He also stated, "The 'ED' group of the NCP went with the BJP. Rest are with Pawar Saheb. The public is with Pawar Saheb. The public will never forgive them for the treason. The BJP witnessed the outcome of removing a democratically elected government in Karnataka. The same will happen to the Shinde group (Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde) and the Pawar group."

He said, "Today, in Maharashtra, we all saw that a large part of the NCP got involved in Ajit Pawar's group and nine MLAs of the group took oath as ministers in the cabinet. The NCP had 53 MLAs. If more than 36 or 37 MLAs go with Ajit Pawar, then the anti-defection law would not be applied to them. If fewer than 35 MLAs remain with him, it is sure that they will be disqualified. The figure will come out tomorrow".

Adding, he said, "Pawar Saheb said in a press conference that several MLAs informed him that they were tricked into signing the documents so they would be meeting Pawar Saheb. So, if more than 17 MLAs are with him, then all the MLAs of Ajit Pawar's group will be disqualified. Otherwise, it will be considered a split within the party."

Chavan further told that NCP Chief Sharad Pawar will commence his visit tomorrow to interact with the public.

As per the interpretation of the Anti-defection law by the apex court in 1996, a member elected or nominated by a political party continues to be under its control even after his or her expulsion. The law requires at least two-thirds of the MLAs must be willing to join another party.

The former Maharashtra CM further said, "I had an idea that until the MVA (Maha Vikas Aghadi) stands strong together, the Shinde group will not dare to conduct any election in the state. The local bodies election has been pending for one and a half years, but the Shinde group did not dare to conduct the same."

He said, "I was suspicious that an effort would be made to break the alliance. Today, the step turned out to be successful. I am very surprised that two days before, PM Narendra Modi mentioned the NCP's corruption of Rs 70,000 crores. He also mentioned the leaders of the NCP. Now, the BJP is giving them ministership".

In a dramatic turn of events, NCP leader Ajit Pawar along with his MLAs joined the BJP-led alliance in Maharashtra and 8 of the MLAs took oath as ministers in the cabinet while Pawar took over as the deputy CM.

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