Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLC Eknath Khadse has claimed that he was contacted by a loyalist of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar asking him to join his faction but he declined the offer, reported news agency PTI. 

"I had received a call from NCP MLC Amol Mitkari on behalf of Ajit Pawar asking me to side with his faction. I told him flatly that I was loyal to Sharad Pawar. I will not leave him," Eknath Khadse told reporters.