NCP held talks with BJP in 2017 on Sharad Pawar's orders: Ajit Pawar-led faction
The NCP, which was in opposition from 2014 to 2019, had entered into talks with the BJP to form a coalition government in 2017, claimed Maharashtra NCP president Sunil Tatkare of the Ajit faction. While Ajit had earlier made a similar claim, Tatkares revelation is interesting because it also reveals that the BJP and NCP were in talks for months in 2017 and had also decided on how many Lok Sabha seats the two parties would contest on.
Source: indiatimes.com