Major jolt to NCP as Ajit Pawar rebels, sworn in as Deputy CM of Maharashtra

In a major setback to the NCP, senior party leader Ajit Pawar, backed by several party MLAs, was sworn in as the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra on Sunday (July 2). He will share the post with BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis.

The move comes days after Ajit Pawar expressed his desire to step down as Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly and take up a role in the party organisation. He was rumoured to be unhappy about being denied the post of party’s state unit chief.

Apart from Ajit Pawar, other MLAs who were sworn-in as ministers in the NDA government include Dilip Walse Patil, Hassan Mushrif, Dhananjay Munde, Dharmarao Baba Atram, Aditi Sunil Tatkare, Sanjay Bansode, Anil Patil and Chhagan Bhujbal.

Also watch | What’s brewing in NCP? Ajit Pawar ‘snubbed’; Supriya Sule made working president

’40 NCP MLAs supporting state government’

Maharashtra BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule claimed 40 of 53 MLAs of the NCP are supporting the state government.

Bawankule was speaking to reporters after NCP leader Ajit Pawar was sworn in as deputy chief minister while eight MLAs of the Sharad Pawar-led party took oath as ministers in the government led by Shiv Sena and BJP.

“40 out of 53 MLAs of NCP are supporting the state government,” Bawankule said.

Earlier in the day, Ajit Pawar met some party leaders and MLAs at his official residence in Mumbai. The meeting was earlier slated to be held on July 6 in the presence of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, who is currently in Pune.

#WATCH | NCP leader Ajit Pawar takes oath as Maharashtra Deputy CM in the presence of CM Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis pic.twitter.com/3l3p1Fi9nB

— ANI (@ANI) July 2, 2023

NCP chief Sharad Pawar was not aware of the meeting. “I do not know exactly why this meeting has been called but, being the leader of the Opposition, he (Ajit Pawar) has the right to call a meeting of MLAs. He does that regularly. I don’t have much detail about this meeting,” Pawar had said.

Senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal and party’s working president Supriya Sule were among the leaders present at the meeting held at Ajit Pawar’s official residence ‘Devgiri’, while state party president Jayant Patil was not present.

Following Ajit Pawar’s rebellion, the NCP is now staring at a split which comes a month after Sharad Pawar resigned as party chief and then decided to take it back three days later. NCP’s state unit chief Jayant Patil held a telephonic converstaion with Sharad Pawar, who has cancelled his scheduled tour and program.

Also read: Ajit Pawar offers to quit as Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra assembly

An ambitious Ajit Pawar had been feeling “sidelined” in the NCP over the past few months and there were instances where his actions made it amply clear that he was “miffed”.

When NCP patriarch Sharad Pawar had offered to resign sometime back, many senior leaders suggested the name of his daughter Supriya Sule to take up the role. However, no one backed Ajit who was seen as heir apparent. He was conspicuous by his absence in the press conference in which Pawar announced his decision to withdraw his resignation.

A few weeks later, the elevation of Sule as the party’s working president further strained his ties with the NCP. Later, Ajit Pawar offered to quit as the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly, seeking an organisational role in the party.

Sharad Pawar undeterred, says Raut

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said Sharad Pawar is undeterred by the split in his party and can start afresh.

In a tweet, Raut said, “I just spoke with NCP Sharad Pawar. He said he is firm and peoples support is behind us. We can make a fresh start with Uddhav Thackeray. Raut said people of Maharashtra will not tolerate such a “circus”, an apparent reference to government formation through vertical splits in political parties, for long.

“Some people seem to be determined to completely spoil Maharashtras politics. Let them proceed on their chosen path,” said Raut, in an apparent reference to Ajit Pawar, CM Shinde and the BJP.