Few NCP (SP) MPs may defect, says Prithviraj Chavan; party denies rift

2 min readPuneUpdated: Jul 10, 2026 12:23 PM IST

NCP (SP) MP Bajrang Sonawane (right) hit back at Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan (left), saying 'those making such claims should take care of their own house first'. (File Photos)

A day after senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan alleged that five or six MPs from the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) might defect, NCP (SP) MP Bajrang Sonawane hit back on Friday, saying “no one is unhappy” in the party.

“There is no discord in our party, no one is restless, and no one is unhappy,” Sonawane said, speaking to reporters in Beed.

The NCP (SP) has eight Lok Sabha MPs, including Supriya Sule, Sharad Pawar’s daughter.

“I do not know how appropriate it is for a person like former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan to make such a statement…Those making such claims should take care of their own house first,” the Beed MP said. Sonawane emphasised that all NCP (SP) MPs were united. “I am in touch with all the MPs. We are united and working for the people,” he said.

NCP (SP) MPs ‘restless’

Speaking to reporters in New Delhi on Thursday, Chavan said that he had information that five or six MPs in Sharad Pawar’s party were “restless”. “This means NCP (SP) could face a situation similar to what Uddhav Thackeray’s party faced when six MPs left,” he added.

Alleging that the “Modi-Shah government was relentlessly pursuing” the NCP (SP) MPs, Chavan said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were targeting the Opposition. “It is their (Modi-Shah’s) desire that the Opposition should not exist,” he said.

Last month, six Lok Sabha MPs of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) crossed over to the Shiv Sena led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. The defection of the rebel Uddhav Sena MPs was dubbed ‘Operation Tiger’.