The Shiv Sena on Thursday said the “NDA is not any single party’s property” as it justified its support in the Lok Sabha for the demand for a joint parliamentary committee probe into the Rafale deal.

“We are the NDA. The NDA is not any single party’s property,” Sena MP and spokesperson Sanjay Raut said when asked by journalists why the party chose to embarrass the BJP despite being part of the Modi government.

The BJP suspects the Sena is trying to drive a hard bargain in an election year.

Raut said his party was demanding a joint parliamentary committee probe not only into the Rafale deal but also the AgustaWestland helicopter deal involving the previous UPA government.

“Our demand should be taken positively. We want both the deals probed so that the truth comes out,” Raut said.

The Sena had echoed Rahul Gandhi’s demand for a JPC probe into the Rafale deal in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday and asked questions about the deal like the Opposition, leaving the BJP embarrassed.

“A JPC will give an opportunity to the government to prove the deal is clean. Why should we in the NDA be scared of a JPC probe when the Rafale deal is clean?” Raut asked on Thursday.

BJP leaders, however, linked the Sena’s stand with the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The BJP feels the Sena is using the Rafale and the Ram temple issue to drive a hard bargain on seat-sharing.