Maharashtra politics won't affect alliance in Kerala: NCP leader

After the surprising move by BJP to form government in Maharashtra with support of a section of Nationalist Congress Party, Kerala transport minister AK Saseendran on Saturday said that the political developments in Maharashtra will not affect the NCP alliance with the Left in the state.

NCP leader and Kerala Minister AK Saseendran who is on an official visit to Dubai said, "Kerala unit of NCP will never support anyone who joins hand with the BJP. The state unit of NCP will follow the official party line and disciplinary action should be taken against those who align with BJP."

"The political developments in Maharashtra will not affect NCP alliance with Left in the state. The alliance with the Left will remain intact in Kerala" he added. NCP is an alliance partner of the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala.

LDF convener A Vijayaraghavan said that the NCP Kerala unit will never endorse any move to support the BJP. "Development in Maharashtra was unexpected. NCP Kerala unit will stay with the Left alliance," he said.Earlier in the day, NCP chief Sharad Pawar assured disciplinary action against his nephew and NCP leader Ajit Pawar.

BJP's Devendra Fadnavis took oath early this morning as the Maharashtra Chief Minister for the second consecutive term while Ajit Pawar took oath as Deputy Chief Minister of the state. The oath was administered by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at Raj Bhawan.

The move came at a time when deliberations between Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena on government formation seemingly reached the final stage on Friday.

The BJP, which emerged as the single-largest party in last month''s assembly elections, could not stake claim to form a government as its ally Shiv Sena remained firm on rotating the Chief Minister''s post and equal sharing of Cabinet berths.

Shiv Sena parted ways with BJP to explore ways to form a government. It, however, failed to prove the support of the required number of MLAs in the time given by Mr Koshyari.

The Governor had then invited NCP, the third-largest party, to prove its ability to form the government failing which President''s Rule was imposed in the state. The BJP won 105 seats in the 288-member assembly followed by Shiv Sena 56, NCP 54 and Congress 44.

-ANI

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