NCP Coup Day 4: Ajit Pawar faction meeting ends; Sharad Pawar separately addresses party workers

Day 4 since the swearing-in of Ajit Pawar as deputy Chief Minister in the Shinde-Fadnavis government will witness two key meetings one for the legislators who still remain in Sharad Pawar's camp and that of lawmakers and party leaders siding with Ajit.

Mumbai (Maharashtra): The meeting of the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) faction started at the YB Chavan Centre in south Mumbai for a key meeting of its party legislators. Sharad Pawar addressed the party workers, who had gathered in large numbers.

NCP working president Supriya Sule also addressed the meeting and lashed out at the BJP. The Member of Parliament termed the BJP as the most corrupt party. Senior NCP leaders Jayant Patil, Anil Deshmukh, Vandana Chavan, Jitendra Awhad, and as many as 13 MLAs attended the key meeting.

Meanwhile, the meeting of the Ajit Pawar faction was held at the MET in suburban Bandra. The meeting started with an address by Maharashtra Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, who claimed the support of 40 legislators. Sacked NCP leaders Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare, Maharashtra Ministers Dhananjay Munde, Hasan Mushrif, were present for the meeting.

During the meeting, Ajit Pawar took a dig at Sharad Pawar saying leaders in the BJP retired at 75. Sharad Pawar is 83 years old. Chhagan Bhujabl, who was sworn in as Maharashtra Minister, said, "We will see the number of leaders sitting in on the stage and at other places. Supporters are signing papers and they are asked from where have they come. The exact number of leaders can only be seen on the stage."

The leaders of the Ajit Pawar faction unfurled the NCP flag at the meeting of the venue.

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A notification for the Sharad Pawar faction meeting was issued by the newly appointed Maharashtra Leader of Opposition Jitendra Awhad. Earlier, a similar notification was issued by Shivajirao Garje, who has been expelled by the Sharad Pawar-led party for 'indulging in anti-party activities', sought the current and former legislators, parliamentarians, office-bearers, working committee members, and others, to attend a meeting at MET. The notice was issued on behalf of Sunil Tatkare, who was appointed as the Maharashtra unit president appointed by the Ajit Pawar group.

While Sharad Pawar has sought the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker to disqualify nine party legislators including Ajit Pawar, the rival camp has pressed for the disqualification of state NCP president Jayant Patil and Jitendra Awhad as MLAs. Earlier on Monday, NCP working president Praful Patel, who was sacked from the party by Sharad Pawar, appointed Ajit Pawar as leader of the NCP Legislature Party while retaining Anil Bhaidas Patil, who took oath as a minister alongside Ajit Pawar, as the party whip in the Assembly. At present, the NCP has 53 MLAs in the 288-member Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.