What is Ajit Pawar’s next move: Is the NCP leader planning to join the BJP?

There is a buzz in political circles that Ajit Pawar, the nephew of NCP supremo, Sharad Pawar may join the Bharatiya Janata P[arty (BJP).

Some media reports say that Ajit Pawar is not reachable. There are also reports that Pawar may have been contemplating this move, in the wake of the NCP losing national status.

Speculation is also rife that the move may also be linked to his name being dropped by the Enforcement Directorate in its chargesheet in the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank case. Earlier the ED had attached properties of the sugar mill linked to Ajit Pawar and his wife Sunetra Pawar. However the duo's names were dropped, which fuelled further speculation, that he is on his way to the BJP.

Since the development, the Internet has been filled with posts about the NCP strongman joining the BJP. A recent report by Republic TV had said that Ajit Pawar was exploring options to make a shift from the NCP and could possibly join hands with the BJP.

An insider account:

Activist and politician Anjali Damania had claimed on Wednesday that Pawar may soon join the BJP. She said that she was informed by someone in Mantralaya that 15 MLAs from the opposition party in Maharashtra would drop out and Ajit Pawar would soon join the BJP.

"Went to Ministry today for work. There a person stopped me and gave me some interesting takeaways. According to him, 15 MLAs are going to drop out, and Ajit Pawar is going to join the BJP... very soon. Let's see, what turn does Maharashtra's politics take now," a rough translation of her tweet in Marathi read.

NCP loses national status:

The Election Commission had on Monday revoked the national status of the NCP. The election body had said that Sharad Pawar's NCP would now have only a state party status only in Maharashtra and Nagaland. The decision comes in the wake of the party's performance in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Party leader, Surpiya Sule said that the party accepts the decision, but also added that many are upset with the same. Speculations are now rife that even Ajit Pawar may be upset with this development.

A praise for Modi:

Recently Ajit Pawar had showered praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said that it is the Modi-magic that had made the BJP reach the remotest of locations. He slammed the people who criticised Modi for his education and said that it was important to see how the man works.

The BJP under his leadership repeated the 2014 feat in the 2019 elections. What is important to note here is that is the work he does. Education is not considered a very important criterion in politics, Pawar had said.

Pawar also took a dig at the Congress for demanding the option of using ballot papers in addition to the EVMs. Ajit Pawar reposed faith in the EVMsand said that the people who lose the elections start blaming EVMs.

Backing Adani:

In an interview with NDTV on April 8, Sharad Pawar had questioned the credibility of the Hindenburg Research Report which had levelled allegations against businessman Gautam Adani. He disagreed with the demand for a joint parliamentary committee to probe the alleged scam. He however said that the joint parliamentary committee will have a majority of the ruling party and hence a Supreme Court monitored panel would be a better option.

An attempt made in the past:

Ajit Pawar has in fact had a small stint with the BJP. With the Shiv Sena refusing to joins hands with the BJP after the earlier Maharashtra elections, Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis were briefly sworn in as deputy chief minister and chief minister. The government however lasted just 80 hours and collapsed on November 26 2019.