The Maharashtra politics which has been witnessing ups & down since its state assembly election in 2019, is again soon likely to witness another episode of high voltage political drama.

The speculations are high of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar joining BJP along with 30 NCP MLAs.

If the speculations turn to be true, it would be huge blow for the master strategist Sharad Pawar and his party NCP, who is in rounds meeting with opposition leaders reportedly for formation of an united opposition front to fight against the ruling BJP.

Shiv Sena (UBT) senior leader Sanjay Raut claimed on Sunday that NCP chief Sharad Pawar has asserted Uddhav Thackeray that his party would never take a decision to ally with BJP.

As per reports, some MLAs of the NCP has claimed that they would remain loyal to their leader Ajit Pawar in whatever decision he takes in the near future.

 Ajit Pawar, nephew of Sharad Pawar, currently is the leader of the opposition in the Maharashtra assembly, has held the post of deputy chief minister of the state four times.

In November 2019, while the ongoing episode of government formation race between the BJP and Shiv Sena (before Eknath shinde faction leaving the party), Ajit Pawar in a surprising move was sworn in as the deputy chief minister of the state with Devendra Fadnavis as the chief minister, which lasted for not more than three days, a move which is purportedly considered to be a card played by Sharad Pawar to divert BJP’s attention.

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On Monday, amid rising buzz of Ajit Pawar calling a MLAs meeting on Tuesday, he dismissed claiming it to be false.

The reports whereas have claimed of almost 34 MLAs have internally supported Ajit Pawar’s decision of joining BJP and become a part of the Shinde-Fadnavis government in-rule.

Reports of senior leaders of NCP like Praful Patel, Chagan Bhujbal, Dhananjay Munde, Sunil Tatkare backing Ajit’s decision is also hovering around.

The MLAs reportedly have stated the reason behind joining BJP to be 2024 general elections and fear of central investigation agencies. MLAs are in a view that joining BJP would protect them from central agencies such as ED, CBI as many senior opposition leaders including Ajit Pawar are facing the charges of these agencies.

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Top BJP leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar joined the Congress on Monday after being denied a ticket by the saffron party in next month’s Assembly elections in the state.

According to reports, Shettar, upset over not being chosen as a candidate for the May 10 polls, resigned as MLA and quit the BJP on Sunday and later flew in from Hubballi to Bengaluru in a special chopper and had a meeting with top Congress leaders late last night.

Reports said that Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar, party general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala, and for CM Siddaraimah were present in the meeting.

Shettar, a prominent Lingayat leader, joined the Congress on Monday morning in the presence of party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, state party president, DK Shivakumar, general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala, and Congress MP KC Venugopal.

Talking to reporters after joining the Congress, Jagadish Shettar said he was “shocked” that the BJP denied him a ticket as he’s a senior leader.

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The Lingayat leader said that no one from the BJP talked to him or tried to convince him of not to leave the party adding that he was “forcefully” thrown out of the party and now has joined the Congress by accepting the grand old party’s principles and ideology.

Speaking about Shettar joining the Congress, Mallikarjun Kharge said the former CM is a “non-controversial” whose induction into the party ranks will serve as an enthusiasm booster for the Congress.

Kharge said Jagadish Shettar is someone who is capable of winning seats for the party he’s aligned with.

Congress veteran Siddaramaiah called Shettar “decent and secular” politician who always stood with the BJP as an honest party worker.

Last month, Randeep Surjewala had predicted an “exodus” of top leaders from the BJP ahead of the Karnataka Assembly elections, claiming that BJP top brass will be leaving the saffron party in the coming days.

Elections are scheduled to be held in Karnataka on May 10 and the results will be declared on May 13.

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A poster depicting Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as the united opposition’s Prime Minister candidate for next year’s Lok Sabha elections was seen pasted outside the Rashtriya Janata Dal’s (RJD) Patna office on Sunday.

According to reports, the poster, which was put by RJD women’s wing general secretary in Bihar, Poonam Rai, showed Nitish Kumar sitting in the Prime Minister’s chair while being surrounded by top leaders of the allied opposition, including Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Tamil Nadu CM Stalin, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, former Congress scion Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee, RJD chief Lalu Prasad and Bihar deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav.

Nitish Kumar has repeatedly asserted that he wasn’t keen on becoming the Prime Minister, however, his ally party RJD clearly sees the JD(U) leader as one of top candidates to challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP juggernaut in the 2024 General Elections.

Reports said the poster was later pulled down to avoid any controversy.

Kumar is viewed as one of the pillars of the Opposition’s united front to wrest power from the BJP in next year’s polls.

On Friday, the Bihar CM, while addressing party workers in Patna said that he will not hold talks with non-BJP parties and will go on a visit across the country in an attempt to build and strengthen opposition unity ahead of the 2024 elections.

The JD(U) chief in a scathing attack on the BJO said that those who vote for the saffron party in next year’s Lok Sabha polls will bring “destruction” onto themselves.

At the party meeting, Nitish Kumar once again reiterated that although he was working tirelessly to forge opposition unity, he isn’t a claimant to the prime minister’s post.