Congress chief Rahul Gandhi with NCP chief Sharad Pawar at the latter’s residence in New Delhi. (File photo/Express photo by Anil Sharma)At least 50 Congress and NCP MLAs are in touch with the BJP to switch over ahead of the assembly elections, senior BJP leader and Maharashtra Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan claimed on Sunday.
“Some 50 MLAs of Congress and NCP are in touch with the BJP. Senior NCP leader Chitra Wagh had expressed her desire to join BJP a month back, claiming she had no future left in her parent party. The MLAs are requesting that they wanted to join the BJP ahead of the assembly elections…The Congress is in the shambles and in the next couple of weeks, the NCP will look weaker,” Mahajan said.
Mahajan’s comments came at a time when a string of NCP leaders had deserted the Sharad Pawar-led party.
NCP’s Mumbai unit chief Sachin Ahir had quit from the party and joined the Shiv Sena last week. The party’s women wing president, Chitra Wagh, had also left. And NCP MLA Vaibhav Pichad has expressed his desire to join the BJP.
Responding to Sharad Pawar’s charge that the BJP was misusing government agencies against Opposition leaders to make them defect, Mahajan said: “”He (Pawar) is levelling these allegations to cover up his own political failure. We have not threatened any one or put pressure on any leader.”
Meanwhile, according to news agency PTI, speculation is rife that a sizable number of corporators, including Mayor of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation Sandeep Naik, may switch over to the BJP from the NCP.
In the 2014 elections, the BJP had won 122 seats out of total 288 while the Shiv Sena 63. The Congress and the NCP bagged 42 and 41 seats, respectively.
