'If someone is trying…': Sharad Pawar on Ajit Pawar's remarks on CM post

Nationalist Congress Party Chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday said there was no discussion about reports of Ajit Pawar joining the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) coalition in Maharashtra.

"If someone is trying to break away Ajit Pawar from NCP, then, it is their strategy and they must be doing that. If we have to take a stand, then we will take a firm stand. It isn't right to speak anything on it as we haven't had any discussions regarding this," Sharad Pawar was quoted saying by news agency ANI.

The NCP chief's statement comes amid speculations that Ajit Pawar may break away from the NCP to join the BJP.

Amid speculations, Ajit Pawar on Friday said he is still ambitious to become the chief minister. He had also said that NCP can stake a claim to the post of chief minister "now also" instead of waiting for 2024.

Backing Ajit Pawar, NCP leader Supriya Sule said that there is nothing wrong to have ambition in politics.

"There is nothing wrong to have ambition or a dream in politics, everybody has it, so I don't think there is anything wrong with saying openly about it. In fact, he is very honest in talking about his ambition," NCP leader Supriya Sule told ANI.

Notably, Ajit Pawar skipped NCP's day-long convention in Mumbai today citing his prior commitments elsewhere, which has raised eyebrows in political circles as speculation about his next political move refuse to die down.

Speculations about his next political move starteddoing rounds after he suddenly cancelled his scheduled meetings and also made comments which were seen favouring the BJP and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's camp.

The 63-year-old leader, who was Deputy Chief Minister, is currently the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly.

In one of the most dramatic incidents in Maharashtra politics, Ajit Pawar went missing only to reappear alongside BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis at Raj Bhavan in 2019. Ajit took oath as Deputy CM with Fadnavis as the Chief Minister. However, the government fell within days as it could not survive as they failed to prove majority.