Some NCP leaders joined hands with BJP as they were threatened: Sharad Pawar

Sharad Pawar. File Pic/PTI

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar said some of the party leaders who had switched sides and went with the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP to join the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde)-BJP government were being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), reported the ANI on Sunday.

"Recently some of our people joined the government saying that they joined hands with the BJP on the issue of development...some of them were under ED investigation...some of them did not want to face investigation," Sharad Pawar said, according to the ANI.

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Lauding former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, the NCP chief said, "...but some like Anil Deshmukh accepted going to jail and spent 14 months there. He was also offered to join their side (BJP) to avoid investigation but he said that he did not commit any crime and chose not to leave his ideology..."

Sharad Pawar also alleged that some of the NCP leaders joined hands with the BJP since they were threatened by the "agencies", as per the ANI.

"Some of our associates joined BJP under the pressure of investigations by agencies. They were told if you join us (the BJP) then nothing will happen in your cases but if you don't join then you will be shown a different place (jail)," according to the ANI.

Speaking about the land purportedly belonging to the Akhil Bharat Sarva Seva Sangh, a Gandhian institution, that was recently taken over by the government, Sharad Pawar said, "Varanasi, from where the PM was elected, land that was bought to carry Gandhian things like a printing press, books meetings, workshop ...but after the current government came to power they were first told to shut down the institution," the news agency reported.

"However they did not listen...then the government forcefully took control of the land and all the books kept in the institution were thrown outside near a Gandhi statue there...now the people who follow Mahatma Gandhi's ideology...are being treated in this way. We can understand how low the government has gone to misuse its power," Sharad Pawar further alleged, as per the ANI

The crisis in the NCP was triggered by Ajit Pawar (then Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly) switching sides and joining the Eknath Shinde-BJP government and taking oath as the Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister, a few months back. Eight other NCP MLAs took oath as ministers with Ajit Pawar.

(with ANI inputs)