NCP vs NCP | Ajit Pawar new Maha Deputy CM, 8 other MLAs also defect

In a major political upset, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) split on Sunday exactly how Shiv Sena had last year. Ajit Pawar, who until now was the leader of the opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly, rebelled and switched sides joining the Eknath Shinde-led government as Deputy Chief Minister.

Mumbai (Maharashtra): In a dramatic weekend coup in Maharashtra political circles, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar left the party with at least 30 other MLAs to join the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government in which he shortly took oath as Deputy Chief Minister, a berth he would share with BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis.

Eight other NCP leaders also joined the Maharashtra government today, even as sources say that Ajit Pawar has the support of 40 out of the 53 NCP MLAs and his Sunday move effectively leaves NCP in tatters. The move has also jolted the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the political coalition in the state NCP was a major part of.

Apart from Ajit Pawar, key NCP leaders who defected and took oath as Maharashtra ministers in the presence of CM Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis include Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse Patil, Hasan Mushrif, Dhananjay Munde, Aditi Tatkare, Dharmarao Atram, Anil Patil and Sanjay Bansode.

Interestingly, Anil Patil, who represents Amalner assembly constituency in Jalgaon district, is the chief whip of NCP in the state legislative assembly. Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar, who was present in the Raj Bhawan, said Ajit Pawar has resigned as the leader of opposition (LoP) in the Lower House and he has accepted it.

Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal and NCP working president Praful Patel were also present in the Raj Bhawan. Maharashtra BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule claimed 40 MLAs of NCP (out of the total 53) have supported the state government. Elections to the 288-member state Assembly are due next year.

Sources said that some MLAs accompanying Ajit Pawar to Raj Bhawan were “upset” with Sharad Pawar’s “unilateral” decision to share the stage and ally with Rahul Gandhi at the opposition unity meet in Patna.

The political development comes a year after a revolt led by Shinde against the Shiv Sena (then undivided) led to the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. On June 30, 2022, Shinde was sworn in as the CM with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devendra Fadnavis as the deputy CM.

BJP's Mumbai unit president and former state minister Ashish Shelar said CM Eknath Shinde gave support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to save Hindutva. Today, NCP's major faction led by Ajit Pawar is joining the Shinde and Fadnavis government in a democratic way and extending support to Modiji."

Earlier in the day, Ajit Pawar met some party leaders and MLAs at his official residence 'Devgiri' in Mumbai. Senior NCP leader Bhujbal and party's working president Supriya Sule were among the leaders present at the meeting. However, Sule left the meeting early. NCP president Sharad Pawar, who was in Pune, said he was unaware of the meeting.

After the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena snapped ties with long-term ally BJP. Later, Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar were sworn in as the chief minister and deputy CM respectively in a hush-hush ceremony at the Raj Bhawan, but their government lasted only 80 hours.

Thackeray subsequently tied up with the NCP and Congress to form the MVA government. In June last year, the revolt led by Shinde led to a split in the Shiv Sena and the collapse of the MVA government, following which Shinde became the CM with the BJP's support.