Pawars at war on Twitter: Ajit bats for NCP-BJP alliance;Sharad slams nephew for "misleading" people

Mumbai, Nov 24: Uncertainty, confusion and chaos ruled Maharashtra a day after Devendra Fadnavis took oath as the Chief Minister in the wee hours of Saturday. President's Rule was revoked in Maharashtra and Ajit Pawar broke away from Sharad Pawar's NCP and joined hands with BJP to take oath as the deputy chief minister.

In a stunning turn of events in Maharashtra, BJP's Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday returned as Chief Minister propped up by Ajit Pawar, who was made his deputy, just hours after the new alliance of Shiv Sena, the NCP and the Congress reached a consensus that Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will be their chief ministerial candidate.

The developments on Saturday night left Sharad Pawar and Thackeray shocked as it was being reported that BJP formed the government with NCP's support. Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena chief quickly organised a press briefing and said that supporting BJP was Ajit Pawar's decision and not the NCP's. Some 11 other NCP MLAs were also Raj Bhawan when Fadnavis was appointed the Chief Minister.

Breaking his silence, Ajit Pawar took to Twitter today and said he is still in the NCP and Sharad Pawar is the leader of the party. He says NCP and BJP will form the next government in Maharashtra.

"I am in the NCP and shall always be in the NCP and @PawarSpeaks Saheb is our leader. Our BJP-NCP alliance shall provide a stable Government in Maharashtra for the next five years which will work sincerely for the welfare of the State and its people," he tweeted.

Within minutes of Ajit Pawar's tweet alluding to tie-up with NCP's ideological rival, Pawar in a terse statement from his official twitter handle said that there was no question of an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party in Maharashtra.

"There is no question of forming an alliance with @BJP4Maharashtra. NCP has unanimously decided to ally with @ShivSena & @INCMaharashtra to form the government," Sharad Pawar tweeted on Sunday evening. "Shri Ajit Pawars statement is false and misleading in order to create confusion and false perception among the people," he added.

NCP had won 54 seats in assembly elections. According to NCP's Jayant Patil, they have the support of 51 MLAs, which leave only three including Ajit Pawar out of the equation.

Meanwhile, Ajit Pawar has changed his Twitter bio to "Deputy Chief Minister, Maharashtra | Nationalist Congress Party Leader"

Uddhav Thackeray met Sharad Pawar at a Mumbai luxury hotel where NCP MLAs were lodged amid the high ongoing political drama in Maharashtra.

Incidentally, NCP spokesperson Clyde Crasto dubbed Pawar, the 20-year-old party's founder, as 'Renaissance Man', even as Thackeray met the NCP chief at the suburban hotel bearing the same name. "Hey #BJP, Game on. Our 'Renaissance Man' v/s your modern day so-called '#Chanakya'. Bring it on," Crasto tweeted.

Earlier in the day, NCP leader and Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar assured Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he would work hard for people of the state. Responding to Ajit Pawar's tweet, Crasto tweeted, "Dear Ajit Dada, Nice to see you reply to our Hon. PM's good wishes but just want to remind you that you are being wished because you left the hands of the Man who held your hand & taught you how to walk in your personal & political life. Wishing you the best for the future."

The Sena-NCP bonhomie was also seen after Shiv Sena leaders Eknath Shinde and Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray's Man Friday Milind Narvekar on Saturday caught Sanjay Bansod, NCP MLA from Udgir, who was set to fly out of Mumbai. There was speculation that he was on his way to Delhi.

The buzz on social media was Bansod was missing. Shinde and Narvekar had then taken Bansod to the Y B Chavan centre in south Mumbai where an NCP meet was underway. In a stunning turn of events in Maharashtra, BJP's Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday returned as Chief Minister propped up by Ajit Pawar, who was made his deputy, just hours after the new alliance of Shiv Sena, the NCP and the Congress reached a consensus that Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will be their chief ministerial candidate.

'The Shiv Sena approached the Supreme Court against the "arbitrary and malafide actions/decisions" of Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari of swearing-in Fadnavis.

Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar were sworn in by Koshyari at 8 am at a hush-hush ceremony here after dramatic midnight developments, leading to the lifting of the President's rule in Maharashtra.