New Delhi: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief, Sharad Pawar, has clarified that he will not join hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the wake of confusion stemming from recent political developments in Maharashtra.Pawar Senior issued the clarification when he was called on by the members of the NCP’s Pune unit at his residence in Delhi on Tuesday, August 8.The Pune unit chief of the party, Prashant Jagtap, who led the 229-member delegation, said they were assured by Pawar that he will not side with the BJP and asked them to continue to work for the party without getting confused, Indian Express reported.“The NCP chief has assured that he would be holding a rally in the last week of August in Pune to interact with the party workers and citizens on his political stand. He clarified to us that he will not join hands with the BJP,” Jagtap added.Pawar Senior also reportedly told the visiting delegation that BJP is trying hard to ensure that the party and its symbol are handed over to the faction led by Ajit Pawar. However, he is believed to have assured them that he will not let the saffron party succeed.Pawar’s behaviour has lately created confusion not just among NCP workers but also among the 26-party opposition INDIA alliance. At an event held in Pune on August 1, the NCP patriarch shared the stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The event was held to confer Modi with an award instituted in the honour of freedom fighter Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak. Despite INDIA parties objecting Pawar from sharing the stage with Modi – at a time the opposition parties are forging an alliance and taking on the BJP – Pawar went ahead to participate in the event. In fact, this event took place days after NCP was vertically split between Sharad and Ajit Pawars. The BJP took an active part in engineering the split, allege opposition parties in Maharashtra.On the other hand, Sharad Pawar granted audience to his nephew, Ajit Pawar, even after he walked away with nine NCP MLAs to join the Eknath Shinde-led government. The NCP MLAs from the Ajit Pawar faction held two consecutive meetings with Sharad Pawar, even after they joined the Shinde government. In fact, the Ajit Pawar faction still continues to use Sharad Pawar’s photographs in their campaigns and views him as their leader.These developments have naturally created mistrust among both the NCP workers and the opposition alliance regarding Pawar Senior’s intentions.