Sharad Pawar weighs in on working with BJP vs with Shiv Sena; makes big conclusion

NCP chief Sharad Pawar asserted on Tuesday that an alliance with Shiv Sena was "t difficult", compared to a tie-up with BJP, and said his nephew Ajit Pawar had rebelled against party as he was "totally unhappy" with way talks were going on with Congress in Maharashtra.

'Perfect understanding'

Seen as architect of alliance between avowedly secular Congress-NCP and Shiv Sena, an aggressive proponent of Hindutva for decades, Pawar said re was "perfect understanding" among ideologically diverse allies and expressed confidence that Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra government would complete its term.

Speaking about his talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief told NDTV that he conveyed to PM that it would t be possible for his party to work with BJP.

"For us, it was t difficult to work with Sena as compared to BJP. That was t route we could have taken," he said.

Asked about Ajit Pawar's decision to join hands with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), before a lack of support from NCP MLAs forced him to return to his party, senior Pawar said, "He (Ajit) came back from that discussion between us and Congress and he was t very happy. He was totally unhappy. In that connection, he ultimately took that extreme decision."

In an early morning development on vember 23, Devendra Fadnavis was sworn-in as Maharashtra chief minister and Ajit Pawar as his deputy.

"But he (Ajit) realised that it was t correct decision and that is why he came early morning next day, saw me and just withdrew from all this," Pawar said.

He, however, added that his nephew had a sizeable following in NCP, but declined to comment on wher Ajit Pawar would get deputy chief minister's post in new government in Maharashtra.

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