Nationalist Congress Party’s Ajit Pawar, along with nine party leaders, joined the Maharashtra government today.
Pawar took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. He will share the post with BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis. He reached the Raj Bhawan, shortly after calling an urgent meeting of NCP MLAs on Sunday. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde too reached the Raj Bhawan.
Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse Patil, Aditi Tatkare, Dhananjay Munde, Hasan Mushrif, Ramraje Nimbalkar, Sanjay Bansode, Dharmrav Baba Atram, and Anil Bhaidas Patil also took oath today.
According to party sources, Ajit Pawar has the support of 43 out of the 53 NCP MLAs.
Ajit Pawar was rumoured to be unhappy about being denied the post of party’s state unit chief. Earlier, he had offered to resign from the post of Leader of Opposition, seeking an organisational responsibility.
Pawar, the nephew of veteran leader Sharad Pawar, has sided with the BJP again, weeks after his cousin Supriya Sule was named the Nationalist Congress Party’s working president, leaving his uncle and NCP supremo Sharad Pawar with a major loss of face.
The BJP has struck twice in the last two years, to break the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) opposition alliance in Maharashtra, as Ajit Pawar breaks away NCP MLAs just a year after Eknath Shinde walked out with 40 Shiv Sena MLAs
