Congress leader Ashok Chavan dismisses speculations of joining hands with BJP; Shinde faction MLA claims Cong will split

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], July 6 : Senior Congress leader Ashok Chavan Thursday dismissed speculations of him quitting the Congress and joining hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Chavan said these reports were "rumours" and people who don't like good things happening to him are spreading such rumours.

"I was there in the (Congress) core committee meeting today. It's a rumour and I don't know who has spread it. Some people don't like good things happening to me. It's a false claim by them," said Chavan.

Earlier in the day, Sanjay Shirsat, an MLA from Shiv Sena (Shinde), said the "Congress will also split" while talking to ANI.

When asked if there are Congress MLAs who want to join the Shinde-Fadnavis government, he said, "There are many leaders who ask themselves where do they stand in the state politics as nobody is asking them. Many Maharashtra Congress MLAs want to leave the party and now they have found a way. I have heard that 16-17 MLAs wish to leave Congress. They will take a decision soon once they have a majority, and Congress will also split into two."

The Shiv-Sena leader further said that "earlier also he claimed that Ajit Pawar will leave the party but nobody believed such statements. But it was true and now you people got to know. Similarly, the Congress party will also split into two and I am telling you this today only."

The crisis in Nationalist Congress Party has been triggered by Ajit Pawar switching sides on Sunday and joining the Eknath Shinde-BJP government as Deputy Chief Minister. Eight other NCP MLAs took oath as ministers on Sunday with Ajit Pawar.