Ajit Pawar sacked as NCP party leader for siding with BJP

Ajit Pawar

Mumbai, Nov 23: The NCP on Saturday sacked Ajit Pawar as the party's legislature unit leader after he sided with the BJP and took oath as the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra.

Ajit Pawar's actions defied the party's policies, said a resolution passed at the legislature wing's meeting of the NCP. State NCP chief Jayant Patil will have all the constitutional rights till the next legislature party leader is elected, it said.

The resolution also said that Ajit Pawar's right to issue a whip were also revoked.

The crucial NCP meet convened by NCP chief was attended by 49 of 54 party MLAs. Ajit Pawar, the NCP chief's nephew, had been elected as the legislature party leader on October 30 following the results of the Maharashtra assembly elections.

The party authorized Sharad Pawar and Jayant Patil to decide its stand in light of the developments.
In an early morning twist, the BJP and NCP joined hands to form the government in Maharashtra. Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as Chief Minister, while Ajit Pawar took over as the deputy chief minister.

What has surprised everyone is that this dramatic development took place just a few hours after the the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress announced that they would be staking a claim to form the government. They were also to make a formal announcement today.

After being sworn in as the deputy CM, he said that he decided to take this call as the talks between the NCP, Congress and Shiv Sena were never ending. There was a need to give Maharashtra a stable government, said Ajit Pawar, who is Sharad Pawar's nephew.

It may be recalled that Sharad Pawar had met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi for 40 minutes last week.