There’s pressure to join BJP, but we won’t budge, says Sharad Pawar

Highly-placed sources said the BJP leadership has told Ajit that he will be elevated as CM only if his uncle retires from active politics or extends support to the Ajit-led NCP faction.

FILE - Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar (L) with his uncle and NCP chief Sharad Pawar. (Photo | PTI)

MUMBAI:  A day after he held a closed-door meeting with his nephew and Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday said some well-wishers want him to join hands with the BJP, but he will not listen to them. 

“There are some of us who have taken a different stand,” Pawar said referring to Ajit’s decision to join the BJP-led government in Maharashtra. “But we are very clear that any association with the BJP does not fit into our political ideology. So, no questions of NCP joining hands with the BJP,” Pawar clarified.

Highly-placed sources said the BJP leadership has told Ajit that he will be elevated as CM only if his uncle retires from active politics or extends support to the Ajit-led NCP faction, which supports the BJP.  

When asked about his meeting with Ajit, Pawar senior said, “It was not a secret meeting at all. Why people should object to a meeting between family members?”