Sharad Pawar said that PM Modi wanted an alliance between BJP and NCP in Maharashtra in 2019
Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar has claimed Prime Minister Narendra Modi wanted the BJP and the NCP to come together in Maharashtra to form government in 2019, but he told the PM that "it was not possible".
Reacting to Sharad Pawar's comments, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, whose party shares power with the NCP and Congress in Maharashtra, today claimed that after the 2019 Assembly polls, the BJP was desperate for power and ready to hold anyone's hand for it.
Sanjay Raut also said they were aware who was talking to whom and therefore, the BJP did not succeed in its "attempt" to form government in the state.
After the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections, the Shiv Sena parted ways with long-term ally BJP over the issue of sharing the chief ministerial post.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led party then forged an alliance with the NCP and Congress to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in the state.
On Wednesday, during an event organised by Marathi daily 'Loksatta', Sharad Pawar was asked if during discussions after the 2019 state polls, he had told PM Modi and Union Minister Amit Shah that the NCP and BJP could come together if the latter replaced Devendra Fadnavis as Chief Minister.
To this, Sharad Pawar said it is true he and PM Modi had meetings.
"It was his wish that we (NCP and BJP) come together. However, I went to his (PM's) office and told him it was not possible. I told him that we do not want to keep him in the dark. Our stand is different," said Sharad Pawar.
Questioned about the Prime Minister's reaction to his response, Sharad Pawar said PM Modi asked him to "think over it".
Mr Pawar said after the Maharashtra Assembly elections, for almost 90 days, the government was not formed.
With this proposal, PM Modi might have thought that by doing this (aligning with the NCP ), a stable government could be formed in the state, he said.
When asked about his views that the BJP, which targeted the NCP over various alleged scams during elections campaigns had sought help from the same party, Pawar said he would not say that the BJP sought help from the NCP.
He also said that after the Maharashtra Assembly elections, during several meetings between the Congress and NCP, the bitterness between leaders of the two parties had increased.
"Perhaps, the BJP leadership thought that an advantage can be taken of this situation, and that is what they tried to explore," he said.
Sharad Pawar also recalled his one statement after the 2019 state elections - that if Devendra Fadnavis was short of some MLAs to form government, the NCP would think about it seriously - "further widened the gap between the Shiv Sena and BJP".
After this, the Shiv Sena was sure that BJP leader Devendra Fandavis will make a move.
Notably, before the MVA came to power, Mr Fadnavis was sworn in as the Chief Minister in a hush hush early morning ceremony at the Raj Bhavan, with NCP's Ajit Pawar as hit deputy. However, Fadnavis quit as the Chief Minister four days later.
Meanwhile, reacting to Sharad Pawar's comments, Shiv Sena's spokesperson Sanjay Raut claimed that in 2019, the BJP was "desperate" for power and therefore, it was ready to "hold anyone's hand".
If Sharad Pawar is saying this, it must be true because Prime Minister Narendra Modi had urged Pawar to stake claim for power in Maharashtra, Mr Raut told reporters in Nashik.
"There was transparency among us (MVA allies). We were aware who was talking to whom and therefore, the BJP did not succeed in its attempt to form government in Maharashtra," he said.
There was transparency even in Ajit Pawar joining hands with the BJP to form government (before the MVA came to power) and therefore, Ajit Pawar later returned (to the NCP fold), Mr Raut said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)