Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Ajit Pawar, the leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), joined the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) camp on Sunday and was sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
Pawar has likewise carried 29 MLAs from NCP to the Shinde group in a major political move and has surrendered as the Leader of Opposition. A meeting of top leaders was held at his residence, and there was widespread speculation that he had the support of 29 of the 53 NCP MLAs.
Eight additional NCP MLAs, in addition to Ajit Pawar, have been sworn in as state cabinet ministers. Hassan Mushrif, Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse Patil, Dhananjay Munde, and Aditi Tatkare are the newly elected ministers.
Ahead of the swearing-in ceremony, Maharashtra leader Sudhir Mungantiwar expressed that 40 MLAs are extending support to the Shiv Sena-BJP government in the state.
"Almost the entire NCP will be joining. Ajit Pawar's post will be decided by CM Eknath Shinde. He will distribute the portfolios. The oath-taking ceremony will begin in 5 minutes," Mungantiwar said.
"Ajit Pawar and other NCP MLAs have come here. An Oath ceremony will be held here," said Maharashtra BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule.
As per reports, a secret meeting of Amit Shah, Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar took place in Delhi and the entire planning took place in that.
"Some MLAs accompanying NCP leader Ajit Pawar to Raj Bhawan were “upset” with Sharad Pawar’s “unilateral” decision to share stage and ally with Rahul Gandhi at the opposition unity meet in Patna," said ANI sources.
There have been rumors that Ajit is unhappy about being turned down for the position of party state unit chief. The meeting was originally scheduled to take place on July 6 with NCP chief Sharad Pawar present.
Ajit Pawar had previously offered to step down as Leader of the Opposition in order to take on more organizational responsibilities. The party discussed the issue on Wednesday at the party's national executive in Delhi, and a decision is anticipated within two months.
NCP president Sharad Pawar, who was in Pune, said he was unaware of the meet, but added that Ajit Pawar, as leader of opposition (LoP) in the Maharashtra Assembly, can call a meeting of legislators.
The meeting assumes significance in the wake of Ajit Pawar recently saying he was not keen on continuing as the LoP and wanted to work in the party organisation.
The fact that Ajit Pawar recently stated that he wanted to work in the party organisation rather than continue as the LoP gives significance to the meeting.
At the meeting, which was held at Ajit Pawar's official residence, "Devgiri," senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal and working president of the party Supriya Sule were among the leaders present. State party president Jayant Patil was not present.
The meeting also included a few MLAs.
"People will not tolerate this game for long," tweets Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut after NCP leader Ajit Pawar, backed by nine MLAs, joins Maharashtra government.
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(With agencies inputs)
