The Shiv Sena on Sunday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had offered a position in his government to Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule ahead of the Cabinet reshuffle on September 3. Sule, however, denied the reports on Monday, NDTV reported.
In the Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana, MP Sanjay Raut said Sule and Pawar had both met Modi ahead of the reshuffle, and that Pawar had claimed that the prime minister had offered his daughter a position in the Cabinet.
“Supriya told Modi that she would be the last person to join the BJP,” Raut quoted Pawar as saying in the article, further claiming that “there are NCP leaders who are in touch with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. “The Shiv Sena has no reason to be worried even if the NCP seeks to be part of the Fadnavis Cabinet, and the chief minister is holding secret meetings with NCP leaders.”
The report comes amid speculation that the Bharatiya Janata Party is attempting to ally with the Nationalist Congress party in Maharashtra.
Rubbishing the claims, BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari told the Hindustan Times, “Such contentions are not worth responding to...The Sena should focus on internal matters as, not the NCP, but the Sena’s legislators were keen on joining the BJP.”
The Nationalist Congress Party said it has “ideological differences” with the BJP and will not ally with it. “The article in Saamana itself says Pawar has said that these are all rumours,” NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik told NDTV. “Supriya Sule has also said no to joining the BJP.”
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