The Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena will not be part of the ruling government in Maharashtra if the speculations around NCP leader Ajit Pawar’s entry to the BJP hold true, party spokesperson Sanjay Shirsat said on Tuesday.

The warning shot by the Shinde faction comes amid speculation that NCP leader Ajit Pawar was set to join the BJP along with a battery of MLAs. Pawar, on his part, has dismissed the speculation as baseless.

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Shirsat, whose party shares power with the BJP in Maharashtra, said he does not expect the NCP will not go with the BJP directly. “Our policy is clear about it. The NCP is a party that betrays. We will not be with the NCP even in power. If the BJP takes NCP with them, Maharashtra will not like it. We decided to move out (of the earlier undivided Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray) because people didn’t like us going with the Congress and NCP,” he said.

Referring to Ajit Pawar’s 25-minute clarification before the media on Tuesday morning, Shirsat said the NCP leader has said nothing to imply he does not want to be with the NCP. Ajit Pawar doesn’t have a free hand there. Therefore, if he leaves the NCP, we will welcome him. If he comes along with a group of NCP (leaders), we will not be in the government,” Shirsat said.

Shirsat further rejected the connection that was sought to be drawn between Ajit Pawar’s displeasure with the NCP and the fate of the case of disqualification of 16 rebel Shiv Sena MLAs which is pending in the Supreme Court. Pawar, according to Shirsat, was disgruntled because his son lost the Lok Sabha election in 2019 from the Maval constituency.

The Shinde Sena leader also pointed to the 2019 fiasco when the Devendra Fadnavis-Ajit Pawar government was formed in a hush-hush ceremony that lasted a little over three days. Ajit Pawar, as per Shirsat, was the man responsible for the incident and claimed that Ajit Pawar has not issued a clarification yet.

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Ajit Pawar was held responsible for the oath ceremony held at dawn (in November 2019 with Devendra Fadnavis). After two-and-a-half years, Sharad Pawar said it was an experiment to revoke President’s rule,” he claimed.

Amid intense speculation around Ajit Pawar’s entry to the BJP, the NCP leader came before the media and denied reports that he was considering any such move. He also rejected the allegation that he had taken signatures from 40 of the 53 NCP MLAs at a meeting called last morning.

“MLAs come and meet me for routine work. They always come. But today this is being projected for the wrong reasons. I want to tell my workers that there is no truth in these discussions. There is no reason to get confused,” he said, adding that the roumours were being spread to create a rift within the Maha Vikas Aghadi.

(With PTI inputs)