Sanjay Raut believes that the Ajit Pawar-led NCP is attempting to steal MPs from opposition factions.

Sanjay Raut, the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader, stated on Wednesday that the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) was attempting to orchestrate defections in the rival NCP (SP) by giving its leaders positions in the union cabinet. Raut’s statement came after NCP leader Amol Mitkati revealed that several Lok Sabha MPs from the Sharad Pawar-led NCP were in communication with Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. Jitendra Awhad, an NCP (SP) MLA and former state minister, also claimed that Sunil Tatkare, state president of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, had instructed opposing party MPs to “leave the father and daughter”.

Tatkare’s response to these allegations was expected. Speaking to reporters, Raut said that top NCP leaders Praful Patel and Tatkare had been tasked with orchestrating defections from the Sharad Pawar-led group. The Ajit-led NCP now has just one Lok Sabha MP, Tatkare, compared to the opposing NCP (SP), which has eight.

“The party (NCP) will not get any post in the Union government unless they manage to secure defections from the Sharad Pawar-led faction,” said Raut. Elsewhere, when asked about the possibility of the two NCP factions coming together, Jitendra Awhad said, “If both NCPs are to come together, why did Sunil Tatkare make an offer to our Lok Sabha members to switch sides? His offer was to ‘leave father-daughter aside and come to us’….I think Tatkare himself does not want both the Pawars to reunite.”

Tatkare’s alleged “father-daughter” statement alluded to Sharad Pawar and his daughter, Baramati MP Supriya Sule. Awhad further said that talks of an impending reunification of the two NCP sections were intended to put pressure on BJP ally and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar by implying that the BJP administration at the Centre may receive backing from other sources.