NCP head honcho Sharad Pawar remains unfazed, thanks Modi, 'blames' ED for party split

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Congress Party's (NCP) Sharad Pawar «thanked» Prime Minister Narendra Modi and lay blame at the feet of the Enforcement Directorate for his nephew Ajit Pawar's move to become the state's deputy Chief Minister. The 83-year-old party president said that PM Modi had hurled allegations of corruption against the Congress-NCP. «Today, his party has joined hands and sworn-in (as Ministers) some people from the same party against whom Modi had pointed fingers.

This means that Modi's allegations were baseless and we are now 'absolved' of all the charges. I am thankful to him for this… I am happy for those facing enquiries who have taken oath today,» he said. Talking of pressure from the ED, the NCP head said that some of his party leaders were uneasy about the investigations by various probe agencies, which, combined with the PM's accusations made them very uneasy, prompting them to defect to the Eknath Shinde government on Sunday.

«However, many of those who have gone are in touch with me… Some have also said how their signatures were taken. They have also said that they would make their stance clear in the next two-three days,» said Pawar. He admitted that he was not 'aware' of Ajit Pawar's resignation as the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA)'s Leader of Opposition on June 30 and blamed him for «breaking up the NCP».