All MPs are with Sharad Pawar, says NCP (SP) leader Anil Deshmukh

Mumbai, Jan 8 (PTI) NCP (SP) leader Anil Deshmukh on Wednesday said all 12 MPs of the party were with Sharad Pawar, and there was no substance in the speculation about the two rival factions of the NCP coming together.

He was responding a question about reports that the Nationalist Congress Party led by Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar had approached some Lok Sabha members of the Sharad Pawar group in an attempt to get them to defect. There was also a buzz that the NCP factions led by Sharad Pawar and his nephew Ajit would join hands soon in the aftermath of the Maharashtra assembly polls.

"It is all false. All our eight Lok Sabha MPs and four Rajya Sabha MPs stand behind Sharad Pawar," Deshmukh told reporters here.

Talking about the brutal murder of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh in Beed district, the former home minister said strict action should be taken against those involved in the crime. PTI CLS KRK