NCP MLAs have reportedly told Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena Supremo Uddhav Thackeray that they have been getting calls from Ajit Pawar offering them ministerial positions in the Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP government.
Pawar and Thackeray met the NCP MLAs who have been lodged in a Mumbai hotel on Sunday.
As per sources, Sharad Pawar asked the MLAs if they were facing any problem in the emerging political situation in the state. To this, some of the MLAs replied that they were getting calls from the current Maharashtra Deputy CM and the rebel NCP MLA Ajit Pawar offering them ministerial posts.
Uddhav Thackeray reportedly told these MLAs, "Don't worry, this relationship will go long. Our alliance will go a long way." Soon after meeting the MLAs Thackeray had a closed-door meeting at the Renaissance Hotel where the NCP MLAs have been put up since Ajit Pawar changed the political dynamics in the state by siding with the BJP.
Ajit Pawar, on Sunday, in a series of Tweets thanked the BJP leaders on their congratulatory messages to him becoming the deputy CM of the state. Pawar also said that "he has always been in the NCP and will always be in the NCP" and called Sharad Pawar his leader.
To this, Sharad Pawar responded by saying that Ajit Pawar's statements are misleading and there was no chance the NCP would form an alliance with the BJP. The NCP chief clarified that Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance had the numbers to form the government in Maharashtra and would do so as soon as the governor calls them forward.
The three parties combined filed a plea in the Supreme Court on Saturday against the Governor's decision to swear-in Devendra Fadnavis. The apex court heard the two sides on Sunday morning and asked that the two letters -- NCP's support letter to the BJP and Governor's letter of swearing-in Fadnavis -- should be presented before the court tomorrow.
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