Pune/Mumbai: Former state chief of NCP (SP) Jayant Patil’s meeting with chief minister Devendra Fadnavis late in the night on Tuesday intensified speculations over the party getting closer to BJP though its senior members continued to be in the denial mode.Patil himself said on Wednesday he met the chief minister only to discuss the disqualification of Urun-Ishwarpur Municipal Council president, from NCP (SP). He also denied having any meeting with NCP working president Praful Patel and state president Sunil Tatkare though the latter also met Fadnavis at his official residence, “Varsha”, the same night.This was Patil’s second closed-door meeting with a BJP senior within a week though he ruled out the possibility of joining the NDA. Last week, he met national general secretary of BJP Vinod Tawde in Mumbai. Following these meetings of NCP (SP)’s senior member with BJP members, speculations are rife about Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP) exploring options.Seeking to end the speculations, NCP (SP) working president Supriya Sule told reporters that Patil met the chief minister only to discuss development issues and asserted there was “nothing political” about the meeting. She also ruled out her party’s any move towards the BJP-led NDA, saying no such discussions were under way. She said the party neither held any talks with the NDA nor was approached on the issue.Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said repeated meetings between leaders of the ruling alliance and NCP (SP) were naturally giving rise to doubts among workers of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). He maintained that allies should remain transparent with each other to avoid confusion and said the opposition alliance expected clarity from its partners.Against this backdrop, Supriya clarified she would represent NCP (SP) in the INDIA bloc meeting to be held later this week.NCP (SP) member Patil’s meetings with BJP members come days after senior Pawar’s interaction with deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde triggered similar political speculation. While NCP (SP) consistently maintained that its members’ meetings with ruling alliance leaders were not politically motivated, the latest developments once again revived debate over Maharashtra’s shifting political equations.The speculation around Pawar’s party started soon after Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) witnessed a second split last month. After its six MPs switched over to Shinde-led Sena, talks began about NCP (SP) members also getting similar offers to join the NDA.NCP (SP) Shirur MP Amol Kolhe added to the speculation when he made a statement that if such an offer came from the NDA, he would think about it. He claimed later that his statement was misconstrued, but it stirred a controversy by then.
