All seven NCP Nagaland MLAs extend support to Ajit Pawar

In a purported letter, all seven Nagaland NCP MLAs extended support to the Ajit Pawar-led faction of their party, giving one more jolt to the party chief Sharad Pawar. The split in the NCP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections had become a minor irritant for the country's Opposition parties which were aiming to form a strong front to defeat the BJP at the Centre.

Kohima (Nagaland) : Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief and former Union Minister Sharad Pawar received yet another jolt as all the seven NCP MLAs in the north-eastern state, Nagaland, have extended their support to the breakaway faction led by his nephew Ajit Pawar. These Nagaland NCP legislators sent their letter of solidarity and support to Ajit Pawar.

The NCP Nagaland State leadership has also confirmed this. NCP Nagaland unit chief Vanthungo Odyuo has said that he has submitted all the documents and papers that were necessary to Ajit Pawar to convey their support to his group. Odyuo said that all the seven NCP MLAs in the north-eastern state were in favor of Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. The decision was conveyed on Thursday morning.

The split in the Sharad Pawar-led NCP earlier this month created a political tremor not just in Maharashtra but at the national level. Later on, political affiliations witnessed sudden changes as the breakaway NCP leader Ajit Pawar joined hands with the Shiv-Sena BJP-led ruling coalition and went on to become the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra.

The unexpected jolt to Sharad Pawar's leadership came as a setback to the Opposition parties which were trying to rally together to form a formidable alliance to rout the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Incidentally, most senior leaders in the NCP joined hands with Ajit Pawar and they included Praful Patel and Chhagan Bhujbal.