NCP Splits, Ajit Pawar Takes Oath As Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar joined the Maharashtra government as the deputy chief minister on Sunday. Backed by 29 leaders, Pawar will share the Deputy Chief Minister post with BJP's Devendra Fadnavis.

The move comes days after Ajit Pawar expressed his desire to step down as Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly.

Out of the total 53 NCP MLAs in the state, 40 are reportedly with Ajit Pawar, who is the leader of opposition in the state Assembly.

A total of nine NCP leaders including Chhagan Bhujbal, Hasan Mushrif, Dhananjay Munde, Dilip Walse Patil, Dharmarao Baba Atram, Aditi Tatkare, Anil Patil and Sanjay Bansode took oath as ministers.

Earlier in the day, Pawar called an urgent meeting of NCP leaders, amid rumours that he had met BJP senior Amit Shah earlier this week.

However, NCP president Sharad Pawar, who was in Pune, said he was unaware of the development, but added that Ajit Pawar, as leader of opposition (LoP) in the Maharashtra assembly, can call a meeting of legislators, news agency PTI reported.

"I do not know exactly why this meeting has been called but being the leader of the Opposition, Ajit Pawar has the right to call a meeting of MLAs. He does that regularly. I don't have much detail about this meeting," Sharad Pawar told reporters.

Notably, NCP chief Sharad Pawar has entrusted his daughter and Member of Parliament, Supriya Sule, with the responsibility of Maharashtra by appointing her as a working president. Additionally, Praful Patel has been appointed as another working president to oversee affairs in other states.

An attempt made in the past

In one of the most dramatic incidents in Maharashtra politics, Ajit Pawar went missing only to reappear alongside BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis at Raj Bhavan in 2019. In a hastily organised ceremony, Ajit took oath as Deputy CM with Fadnavis as the Chief Minister. However, the government fell within days as it could not muster enough numbers to attain majority.