After Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis wrote to NCP rival faction chief Ajit Pawar, opposing Nawab Malik's induction into the ruling alliance in the state, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Jayant Patil on Thursday called the move an attempt to provide an 'explanation' to the people of Maharashtra, reported news agency ANI.

"Today, he (Nawab Malik) came to Vidhan Sabha and was sitting on the ruling party's side. So, the BJP wrote this letter as a way of offering an explanation to the people (for the split in the NCP). Instead of sending a letter to Ajit Pawar, he (Fadnavis) could have just called and informed him. I think this letter was the government's way of giving an explanation (amid Malik's induction to the ruling alliance) to the people of Maharashtra," Jayant Patil told reporters in Mumbai on Thursday, reported ANI.