Some BJP MLAs are keen to join NCP (SP): Anil Deshmukh

Anil Deshmukh. File Photo

Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh on Thursday claimed that some BJP MLAs are keen on joining the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party.

Deshmukh asserted the 'switch' to the NCP (SP) has started in the form of the ex-corporators, referring to the resignation of Ajit Pawar-led NCP's Pimpri-Chinchwad unit chief Ajit Gavhane and two former corporators, reported PTI.

Speaking to reporters after a press conference in Nagpur, the senior NCP (SP) leader claimed that some MLAs from the BJP are also interested in being a part of his party as they are 'disappointed after not getting representation in the government'.

"MLAs from the Ajit Pawar-led NCP will also return. However, Sharad Pawar will decide who will be taken into NCP (SP)," he said.

Responding to the question of whether Ajit Pawar is one of them, Deshmukh said, "He is making his own party. Let him expand it," reported PTI.

According to the PTI report, Sharad Pawar said on Wednesday that a decision on the potential entry of any leader in his party will be a collective one. Pawar refused to confirm whether Ajit Pawar would be accommodated if he chose to return.

Ajit Pawar split the NCP, founded by Sharad Pawar, in July 2023 when he led some MLAs loyal to him to join the Eknath Shinde-led Mahayuti government, also comprising the Shiv Sena and BJP.

As per the PTI report, speculations about unrest in the Ajit Pawar faction started after it lost three of the four seats it contested in the recent Lok Sabha elections. Meanwhile, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP won eight out of ten constituencies it contested in alliance with Congress and the Sena (UBT).

Addressing a press conference in Nagpur, Deshmukh on Thursday asked the state government to make public the report of a commission that probed into bribery allegations against him and warned that he would move court if that didn't happen, reported PTI.

The leader reportedly accused the Maharashtra government of internationally holding back the report of the Chandiwal Commission, which he claimed has given him the clean chit.

As per the PTI report, Deshmukh told reporters that while serving as the state's home minister, former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh had made accusations against him. In response to this, Deshmukh himself had asked the then chief minister, Uddhav Thackeray, to initiate an inquiry.

The state had formed a commission under retired Justice of the Bombay High court Kailash Chandiwal, who submitted a 1,400-page report after 11 months two years ago, he said, reported PTI.

"Despite several requests, the report has neither been made public nor placed before the state legislature so far," said noted.

According to the news agency report, he claimed that several newspapers in Maharashtra had reported that the Chandiwal Commission had cleared him of any wrongdoing.

(With inputs from PTI)