"We Should Not Have Taken Support Of Ajit Pawar," Says BJP Leader

With just a day left for Shiv Sena's Uddhav Thackeray to take oath as the new Chief Minister of Maharashtra, a senior BJP leader and former state minister has in hindsight suggested the BJP should not have taken into confidence Ajit Pawar, the nephew of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar.

"My personal opinion is that BJP should not have taken support of Ajit Dada Pawar. He is an accused in the massive irrigation scam and faces many allegations, so we should not have allied with him," said BJP leader Eknath Khadse, who has served as minister of several departments such as excise, Waqf and fisheries, among others.

Investigation has been closed into some cases linked to a massive irrigation scam in which Ajit Pawar is an accused. However, a senior official of the Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) was quoted by news agency ANI as saying that none of the nine cases closed are linked to Ajit Pawar. The official said the move was routine as the date was approaching for an update to the Bombay High Court.

"None of the cases that were closed are related to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister, Ajit Pawar," senior officer Parambir Singh told news agency ANI.

However, the timing was questioned as the NCP-Shiv Sena-Congress combine had been working on the contours of the new alliance.

Ajit Pawar surprised the NCP, Shiv Sena and Congress last week - they were in talks for an alliance at that time - after he took oath as Deputy Chief Minister at the Governor's office, while the BJP's Devendra Fadnavis became Chief Minister.

The early morning development was seen as the culmination of backdoor talks between the BJP and Ajit Pawar. Mr Fadnavis and Mr Pawar immediately started working on state matters like farmers' issues as if it was a normal power transition, despite overwhelming criticism by the other main parties for putting the democratic processes in danger.

But their secretive oath-taking ceremony was too loud not to be noticed by the NCP-Shiv Sena-Congress combine.

With the new combine Maha Vikas Aghadi set to form government, Ajit Pawar has returned to the Nationalist Congress Party after his 80-hour stint as deputy chief minister of a BJP-led government.

"There is no question of return, I am with the NCP and have been with NCP," Ajit Pawar told NDTV as he walked into the assembly for his oath as MLA. "I have nothing to say (right now), I will speak at the right time. I had said earlier also, I am in the NCP and I will remain in the NCP. There is no reason to create confusion."