How Many MLAs Are With Ajit, Sharad Pawar Faction? The Numbers Explained

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is facing a split after Ajit Pawar, the party's leader in the Maharashtra Assembly, took oath as the deputy chief minister in the new government led by the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Ajit Pawar's loyalists claim that all NCP MLAs and leaders are with him. However, several MLAs and leaders have thrown their support behind Sharad Pawar, the party's founder and chief. Some MLAs have not decided their course of action yet.

The NCP has 53 MLAs and nine MLCs in the 288-member Assembly, of who nine MLAs including Ajit Pawar have joined the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government.

If Ajit Pawar gains the support of two-thirds of the NCP MLAs, it will become easy for him to claim the party name and symbol. Currently, 24 MLAs have shown their support for Ajit Pawar, while 14 MLAs are with Sharad Pawar.

A group of 24 MLAs, including Sunil Tingare, Sunil Shelke, Atul Benke, Ashok Pawar, Saroj Ahire, Narhari Zirwal, Indranil Naik, Kiran Lahamate, Nilesh Lanke, Sangram Jagtap, Shekhar Nikam, Datta Bharne, Anna Bansode, Manikrao Kokate, and Dipak Chavan, have expressed their support for the rebel leader.

On the other hand, 14 MLAs, namely Jayant Patil, Jitendra Awhad, Anil Deshmukh, Rohit Pawar, Prajakt Tanpure, Sandeep Kshirsagar, Daulat Daroda, Nawab Malik, Makrand Patil, Mansing Naik, Sumantai Patil, Balasaheb Patil, Sunil Bhusara, and Chetan Tupe, are aligned with Sharad Pawar.

In addition to this, NCP MLAs Dhananjay Munde, Chagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse Patil, Aditi Tatkare, Hasan Mushriff, Anil Patil, Dharmraobaba Atram, and Sanjay Bansode also took an oath of allegiance with Ajit Pawar on Sunday.

The MLAs who are yet to choose a side are Rajendra Shingane, Rajendra Karemore, Manohar Chandrikapure, Chandrakant Navghare, Rajesh Tope, Nitin Pawar, Dilip Bankar, Dilip Mohite, Ashutosh Kale, Prakash Solankhe, Rajesh Patil, Yashwant Mane, Baban Shinde, Babasaheb Patil, and Balasaheb Ajabe.

The NCP, in a resolution against Ajit Pawar and the other rebel MLAs, said the defections were done in a secretive manner, without party chief Sharad Pawar's knowledge or consent, thereby inviting disqualifications.