Do not endorse it: It was Ajit Pawar’s personal decision says Sharad Pawar

New Delhi, Nov 23: After the early morning twist in Maharashtra, NCP leader, Sharad Pawar has said that his nephew Ajit Pawar's decision to support the BJP was his personal one.

This is not a decision of the NCP and we place on record that we do not support or endorse this decision taken by him (Ajit Pawar).

The statement by Sharad Pawar comes minutes after NCP leader Praful Patel too endorsed the same view. Patel said that this is not the NCP's decision. Sharad Pawar has nothing to do with it, Patel also said adding more drama to the entire episode.

What has surprised everyone is that this dramatic development took place just a few hours after the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress announced that they would be staking a claim to form the government. They were also to make a formal announcement today.
It is still not clear if Sharad Pawar is on the same page as Ajit Pawar. Going by the statements, it appears as though this was a decision taken by Ajit Pawar.

After being sworn in as the deputy CM, he said that he decided to take this call as the talks between the NCP, Congress and Shiv Sena were never-ending. There was a need to give Maharashtra a stable government, said Ajit Pawar, who is Sharad Pawar's nephew.

It may be recalled that Sharad Pawar had met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi for 40 minutes last week. Pawar had said that he was meeting with the PM to discuss the farmer issue in Maharashtra.