NCP president Sharad Pawar scripted the resignation drama to save his party from destruction after he realised his "mistake" of allying with Maha Vikas Aghadi and later withdrew his decision, Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule claimed on Wednesday.

The senior BJP leader also said Pawar wanted to tap the mood in his party as he feared that NCP might get "destroyed" between Congress and the crisis-hit Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray.

"After allying with Shiv Sena and Congress, Sharad Pawar realised that he has gone astray and committed a mistake by joining MVA because Uddhav Thackeray, who led the erstwhile MVA government, lacked the acumen to run his party as 40 MLAs left Thackeray's party," Bawankule claimed while addressing a press conference.

"To save his party from possible destruction, Pawar scripted the drama to resign as NCP chief. He subsequently withdrew his decision as he wanted to gauge the mood in the party," the BJP leader claimed and added the "Vajramooth" (iron fist) of MVA is opening slowly.

The three constituents of MVA- Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP, and Congress- have been holding rallies in Maharashtra titled "Vajramooth" to put up a united front against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena led by chief minister Eknath Shinde.

Sharad Pawar announced his decision to step down as NCP chief at a public function in Mumbai on May 2, triggering a churn and consternation in the party founded and helmed by him, with leaders and cadres urging him to reconsider.

Three days later, Pawar said he was rescinding his decision to resign, heeding the pleas of party leaders and activists.

Pawar is the chief architect of MVA which was formed after the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections. In the unique experiment in the state politics, ideologically disparate Shiv Sena (undivided), NCP, and Congress joined hands to prevent BJP from coming to power.

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