NCP leaders urged to 'break' Sharad Pawar's party, claims Sanjay Raut

Mumbai, Dec 13 (PTI) Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Friday claimed the BJP has tasked Nationalist Congress Party leaders Praful Patel and Ajit Pawar with "breaking" the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP).

Talking to reporters in Mumbai, Raut said Sharad Pawar toils hard even at the age of 84, but efforts were being made to engineer a split in his party.

Anyone leaving the opposition party should be ashamed of his action, averred the Rajya Sabha MP.

"The NCP does not have a position in the Union Cabinet because the quota for (NDA allies) to become a minister at the Centre is six MPs. Praful Patel and Ajit Pawar have been told (by BJP) to break five MPs from the NCP (SP) so you can complete the quota of six MPs and then you will be given a berth in the Union cabinet," Raut claimed.

The Sharad Pawar-led party has eight MPs in the Lok Sabha, while the NCP headed by deputy CM Ajit Pawar has one member in the lower house of Parliament.

"Those who are thinking about leaving the party, they are not defeating Pawar saheb, but Maharashtra," Raut added.

When contacted, state NCP (SP) president Jayant Patil told PTI that reports in a section of the media about his party planning to switch to the BJP-led alliance or join hands with the Ajit Pawar-led camp are false and fabricated.

Earlier in the day, Ajit Pawar met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. This was their first formal meeting after the BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP Mahayuti coalition registered a landslide victory in the last month's assembly elections.

The deputy CM called on Modi along with his wife and Rajya Sabha member Sunetra and son Paarth Pawar.

On Thursday, Ajit Pawar had met Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the national capital. The meeting with Shah was also attended by NCP leaders Patel and Sunil Tatkare. PTI