NCP coup: Sharad Pawar vs nephew Ajit Pawar; What you need to know in 10 points

Ajit Pawar claims that he enjoys the support of most NCP MLAs while his uncle and party founder Sharad Pawar countered it with saying he has people's support. Here is what you need to know in 1 points

Mumbai: Founded by Sharad Pawar in 1999, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) suffered a major vertical split after Ajit Pawar and eight others broke ranks and joined the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government. After the split, Ajit Pawar said he had most NCP MLAs with him while his uncle Sharad Pawar responded saying he had people's support. Here are the latest updates on the issue.

1. The NCP has filed a disqualification petition with the Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar against Ajit Pawar and eight party leaders who joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government yesterday. The NCP informed the Election Commission of India (ECI) through e-mail that the party's rank and file was with their head Sharad Pawar, who founded the party.
2. Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule, in her first media interaction after Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and her cousin Ajit Pawar pulled off a coup to take oath as a Deputy CM in the Eknath Shinde government said the developments in the party will not have any bearing on the Opposition's unity. Read more...
3. Ajit Pawar asserted that he will fight the elections in the name of NCP and in its symbol as "they have full control of the party"."Several people will criticise now a bit. We don't give value to that and we will keep working for the progress of Maharashtra and that is why we have taken this decision," Ajit Pawar said. Read more...
4. Sources say Ajit Pawar has the support of 40 out of 53 NCP MLAs, which is more than the requisite number of 36 MLAs that is required for safeguarding against the anti-defection law. The fate of his faction after the swearing in lies in the action of Speaker of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. Read more...
5. Sharad Pawar disowned his nephew and his rebellion. Senior Pawar threatened of disciplinary action against those who switched with Ajit. He said that the party will work towards building a new leadership. He also maintained that he would not fight for the part's name and would go to the people instead. Read more...
6. Sharad Pawar is visiting Satara to pay obeisance at the mausoleum of first Chief Minister of Maharashtra YB Chavan. Pawar is expected to chair a meeting of party leaders at his residence after seeking blessings Chavan. Read more...
7. Congress and Trinamool Congress extended their support to Sharad Pawar, who said that Mamata Banerjee and Mallikarjun Kharge had called him up in this regard. Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi spoke to Sharad Pawar over the phone and extended their support to him in the hour of crisis. Read more...
8. Sharad Pawar's trusted aide Jitendra Awhad has been appointed as the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly and NCP's chief whip. "All MLAs have to abide by my directives," Awhad said. Awhad paid a visit to Delhi where he presented a copy of his petition to the ECI. Read more...
9. Ajit Pawar took oath as deputy chief minister for the third time in the last four years. It is for the first time that Maharashtra has two deputy chief ministers in the state. Some of the heavyweight leaders including Chhagan Bhujbal and Dilip Walse Patil took oath as ministers along with Ajit. In November 2019, Ajit Pawar had been sworn in as the deputy CM in the Fadnavis-led government which lasted just 80 hours. Read more...
10. It now appears to be a repetition of a power tussle that was witnessed in the past between Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde to claim over Shiv Sena.