Ajit Pawar set to inaugurate new NCP office even as keys go missing

Newly sworn in Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar, is set to inaugurate the new office of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) at the A5 bungalow in Mumbai on Tuesday (July 4).

This move will deepen the rift with his uncle and NCP president Sharad Pawar.

Ajit has been asserting that the NCP, as a whole, has joined the Maharashtra government and that he does not represent a separate faction.

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To strengthen their position, Ajit’s group removed Jayant Patil, a Sharad Pawar loyalist, from his role as the party’s state unit chief and appointed Sunil Tatkare, the MP of Raigad Lok Sabha constituency — as the new state unit chief.

Since Sharad Pawar’s NCP currently controls the party headquarters in the Ballard Estate area, Ajit’s camp has established its own office near Mantralaya. This decision clearly indicates that Ajit Pawar and his supporters are unwilling to back down from their claim over the party.

Keys go missing

In an embarrassing turn of events for the Ajit Pawar camp, a bunch of keys belonging to the new office went missing on Tuesday morning.

Leaders loyal to Ajit Pawar arrived at the new ‘Rashtrawadi Bhavan’ or the A5 bunglow on Tuesday morning only to find themselves locked out. They were seen waiting outside the locked doors while efforts were made to locate the keys.

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Footage showed youth leaders attempting to break open a lock to enter the bungalow and prepare it for Ajit Pawar’s inauguration later in the day. However, upon entering, they found that the doors of the interior rooms were also locked.

Ajit Pawar had selected a bungalow for the party office which was previously occupied by Ambadas Danve, the Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council and a supporter of Uddhav Thackeray. Danve has now been assigned a different bungalow.

NCP leader alleges conspiracy

According to NCP leader Appa Sawant, Danve’s personal assistant stayed at the bungalow.

Sawant insisted that they had completed all the required preparations inside the bungalow. However, the personal assistant (PA) responsible for the bungalow had locked it and departed.

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Sawant confirmed that they have reached out to the PA, who assured them that he is currently en route to Mantralaya and will deliver the keys to them soon. The NCP leader also raised suspicions of a conspiracy behind this incident.