MUMBAI: Speculation over Ajit Pawar‘s next move continued to roil Maharashtra’s political waters on Tuesday. While Ajit himself denied he was joining the BJP and said he was with the NCP and would remain with the party “till I live”, Shiv Sena MLA and spokesperson Sanjay Shirsat said if Ajit Pawar left NCP and joined BJP or Shiv Sena, he would be welcomed, but if he took an NCP faction and merged it with BJP, the Sena led by CM Eknath Shinde would quit the state government.

Amid the drama, NCP MP Supriya Sule hinted at “two political earthquakes, one in New Delhi and another in Maharashtra”, in the next 15 days. She did not elaborate, though agencies reported an unnamed NCP leader as saying she could “possibly” have meant the SC judgement in the Shiv Sena case and its ramifications for the state government.

As reports emerged that Ajit had called a meeting of NCP MLAs, Sharad Pawar too dismissed speculation about Ajit’s moves and said no meeting of NCP MLAs had been called by anyone. A senior BJP cabinet member told TOI there was no question of Ajit Pawar joining BJP. Ajit said all the “rumours” being spread about him were part of an attempt to defame him and create a rift within the NCP.