'No Question of Alliance With BJP': Sharad Pawar Nips Speculation of Consenting to Nephew Ajit

New Delhi: Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar has nipped all speculations of having consented to nephew Ajit Pawar's decision to join hands with the BJP. Within minutes of Ajit Pawar's tweet alluding to tie-up with NCP's ideological rival, Pawar in a terse statement from his official twitter handle said that there was no question of an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party in Maharashtra.

"There is no question of forming an alliance with @BJP4Maharashtra. NCP has unanimously decided to ally with @ShivSena & @INCMaharashtra to form the government," Sharad Pawar tweeted on Sunday evening. "Shri Ajit Pawars statement is false and misleading in order to create confusion and false perception among the people," he added.

His clarification came after Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, who was on Saturday sacked as NCP legislative party leader, stressed that Sharad Pawar is his leader. "I am in the NCP and shall always be in the NCP and @PawarSpeaks Saheb is our leader. Our BJP-NCP alliance shall provide a stable Government in Maharashtra for the next five years which will work sincerely for the welfare of the State and its people," he tweeted.

In a series of tweets after thanking BJP leaders for their congratulatory messages, Ajit Pawar also said the "BJP-NCP alliance" will provide a stable government in Maharashtra for the next five years.

Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar were sworn in by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at a hush hush ceremony here on Saturday morning, leading to lifting of the President's rule in the state.

The BJP and the Sena, which fought the last month's Assembly polls in an alliance, secured a comfortable majority by winning 105 and 56 seats respectively. The Sena, however, broke its three decade-long ties with the BJP after the latter declined to share the chief minister's post. The Congress and the NCP, both pre-poll allies, won 44 and 54 seats respectively.