Senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan on Monday claimed he has information that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has promised Ajit Pawar the post of Maharashtra chief minister. The Shiv Sena (UBT) mouthpiece, Saamana, has claimed that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and rebel MLAs of the Sena will soon be disqualified soon and Pawar made the CM. On Sunday, Pawar led a vertical split in the NCP to become the deputy chief minister, shocking his uncle Sharad Pawar, who founded the party 24 years ago. Eight NCP leaders were also sworn in as ministers in the Eknath Shinde-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.

To a query, Chavan while speaking to reporters in Karad said, “I had spoken about it (that Ajit Pawar may go with BJP) publicly but I faced criticism.” The Congress leader said he knew this was happening. “Just bargaining was going on over what he (Ajit) should be getting. As per our information, he has been given a promise of chief minister’s post by pushing Eknath Shinde aside with the help of Assembly speaker’s decision (on disqualification of 16 Shiv Sena MLAs),” the former CM claimed.