Indus Valley Times

Maharashtra,July 2 :  Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar, backed by several MLAs, today took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra in the Eknath Shinde-led government, triggering a shock split in the party. Pawar will share the post with BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis.

Eight other NCP MLAs, including senior leaders Chhagan Bhujbal, Dhananjay Munde and Dilip Walse Patil, took oath as ministers along with Ajit Pawar at a ceremony in Raj Bhawan.

“The country is progressing under the leadership of PM Modi. He is also popular in other countries. Everyone supports him and appreciates his leadership. We will fight the upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections with them (BJP) and that is why we have taken this decision,” Ajit Pawar said at a press conference later, explaining the big switch.

Ajit Pawar’s move comes just days after he had expressed his desire to step down as Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly.

Of the 53 NCP MLAs in the state, Ajit Pawar claims the support of 40, four more than the number required to escape the provisions of the anti-defection law.

The Maharashtra Cabinet will now have nine ministers from the BJP, nine from Shiv Sena and nine from the NCP, including the chief minister and two deputy chief ministers. It can have a maximum of 43 members.

“Now we have one chief minister and two deputy chief ministers. The double-engine government has now become triple engine. For the development of Maharashtra, I welcome Ajit Pawar and his leaders. Ajit Pawar’s experience will help,” Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde told ANI.

Earlier in the day, Ajit Pawar met some party leaders and MLAs at his official residence in Mumbai but 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 the 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 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.

The crisis in the NCP has also weakened the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance of NCP, Congress and Shiv Sena in Maharashtra just a year after Eknath Shinde walked out with 40 Sena MLAs and took oath as Chief Minister of Maharashtra with the support of BJP.