NCP splits; Ajit Pawar to join NDA govt, take oath as Deputy CM of Maharashtra

Synopsis

Nationalist Congress Party’s senior leader Ajit Pawar on Sunday joined Eknath Shinde-led government and was sworn-in as the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra. The oath ceremony took place on July 2, 2023.

ANINCP’s Ajit Pawar joins NDA govt in Maharashtra, takes oath as Deputy Chief Minister

Nationalist Congress Party’s senior leader Ajit Pawar on Sunday joined Eknath Shinde-led government and was sworn-in as the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra.

“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. Most of our MLAs are satisfied with this. We have supported this govt with NCP Party. We will contest all elections in the name of NCP only,” said Pawar in a press conference.

While Ajit Pawar was sworn in as the deputy chief minister by Governor Ramesh Bais at the ceremony held in the Raj Bhawan, eight other NCP leaders took oath as ministers.

Those who were sworn in as ministers are Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse Patil, Hasan Mushrif, Dhananjay Munde, Aditi Tatkare, Dharmarao Atram, Anil Patil and Sanjay Bansode.

The announcement came after Pawar’s meeting with some party leaders and MLAs at his official residence in Mumbai.

Welcoming Ajit Pawar and other leaders of NCP into his government, Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde said: “Now we have one chief minister and two deputy chief ministers. The double-engine government has now become triple engine. For the development of Maharashtra, I welcome Ajit Pawar and his leaders. Ajit Pawar’s experience will help strengthen Maharashtra.”

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.

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 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 collapse of the MVA government, following which Shinde became the CM with BJP’s support.

(With inputs from PTI)

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