Dismissing speculation of his defection to the Shiv Sena ahead of the Assembly polls as “baseless”, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Chhagan Bhujbal on Friday said he would continue to remain by the side of NCP chief Sharad Pawar.
“How many times should I say that I am with the NCP, am working with the party and will continue to remain with Pawar saaheb … All this phoney talk of my proposed defection to the Sena has originated in the media, who claim to have knowledge that I will be switching alliances to the Sena from certain ‘sources’… I wonder who these sources are?” Mr. Bhujbal said ahead of the NCP’s core committee meeting in the city to discuss pre-poll strategy.
He said the very fact that he was present at such an important party meeting ought to put a stop to rumours.
Speaking to a television channel, Mr. Bhujbal said it was not his fault that speculation about his alleged exit refused to die down, but that of the media’s, which kept stoking the fumes of rumour.
The last couple of months have witnessed an exodus of leaders and legislators from the NCP and Congress to the BJP and Sena. Rumours that Mr. Bhujbal was planning a return to his political alma mater, the Sena, gained some credence when he remained absent for NCP MP Supriya Sule’s ‘Samwad Yatra’ in Nashik. Ms. Sule had maintained that Mr. Bhujbal was with the party.
According to the political grapevine, while ordinary Sena workers wished Mr. Bhujbal — once a dyed-in-wool Shiv Sainik for more than 20 years — to be inducted into the party, the top leadership led by Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray was resolutely opposed to his entry.
Meanwhile, the NCP’s core committee meet at the city’s Baramati Hostel, presided by Mr. Pawar, saw the top party leadership in attendance, including State president Jayant Patil, Mumbai unit chief Nawab Malik, senior leader Ajit Pawar and Ms. Sule.
Terming Congress leader Harshavardhan Patil’s bitterness towards the NCP over the Indapur Assembly seat “unfortunate”, Mr. Patil said a decision over the seat was to be taken following a discussion between Mr. Pawar and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Delhi.
