Maharashtra political shakeup updates | Ajit Pawar leads vertical split in NCP to become Deputy Chief Minister

The Maharashtra Congress has convened a meeting of its legislators on July 4 in view of the developments in the State that saw a split in the Nationalist Congress Party and Ajit Pawar being inducted as deputy chief minister in the Eknath Shinde government.

The meeting has been convened by Congress Legislature Party leader Balasaheb Thorat.

The Congress’ Maha Vikas Aghadi allies Shiv Sena and the NCP have now seen splits in the last one year.

The Sena split in June last year after a rebellion by Shinde, who became CM with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

- PTI

In the wake of nine NCP leaders, including Ajit Pawar, joining the Eknath Shinde government, party chief Sharad Pawar has convened a meeting on July 5 in Mumbai to discuss the developments and the future course of action, its state unit chief Jayant Patil said on Sunday.

Talking to reporters, Mr. Patil said the meeting will be held at 1 pm on Wednesday at the Y B Chavan Centre in south Mumbai.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday ridiculed people who used to routinely predict the fall of his government by wondering which astrologer they were consulting, his comments coming on a day when Ajit Pawar joined it along with eight other NCP MLAs.

Mr. Pawar was sworn in as deputy chief minister after he managed to bring about a vertical split in the Nationalist Congress Party.

“From day one, opposition parties have been predicting the fall of the state government. Now, they must be very disappointed. I wonder which astrologer is giving them such advice,” he said.

Speaking at a civic event where he arrived at 6pm instead of the scheduled 2 p. m., Mr. Shinde said he was late “as I was working on an operation”, a light take on the political developments of the day.

Ajit Pawar and his team joined the government because they are impressed with the work done by the state government and their joining has added further strength, he said.

- PTI

The PDP and the CPI(M) on Sunday said the BJP was trying to cover its alleged failures on the governance front by “engineering splits” in regional parties.

The remarks came after NCP leader Ajit Pawar and eight others were inducted into the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government.

PDP spokesman Mohit Bhan said whenever the BJP has “failed”, it has targeted regional parties including its former allies.

“They (BJP) have taken MLAs and ministers from other parties and joined them in their own government. This is what we saw in Maharashtra today,” he told PTI.

Bhan said the saffron party tried to give an impression that the induction of NCP leaders in the Maharashtra government was an event for nation building.

- PTI

NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday said he was not upset with anybody in view of the major political development in his party but slammed leaders Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare for “abandoning” guidelines of the party president and taking a “wrong path”.

“I am not upset with anybody except Praful Patel and Tatkare. I had appointed them as general secretaries but they abandoned the guidelines of the party president and took the wrong path. They have no right to remain in that position,” the NCP chief said.

They have to understand this and decide whether they want to continue further or not, he added.

Patel, known to be a close aide of Sharad Pawar, was elevated to the post of NCP’s working president along with Supriya Sule on the 24th Foundation Day of the party last month.

Tatkare, whose daughter Aditi took oath as minister on Sunday, was appointed as the national general secretary of NCP.

Patel did not comment on Pawar.

Patel said he has been a member of Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha since 1991 and was always obliged for what the party has given him.

“Whatever decision that has been taken, it has been taken as a party decision under the leadership of Ajit Pawar. Everyone has taken the decision to join the government. We have taken this decision as NCP,” Patel said and claimed the party stands united.

- PTI

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi spoke with NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday and extended support to him, after the Maharashtra strongman faced a revolt by his nephew Ajit Pawar who along eight other leaders joined the Eknath Shinde-led government.

The Congress said that the BJP’s “washing machine” has resumed its operations as a number of these leaders had been facing serious corruption charges and have now got a “clean chit”.

In a surprising move, Ajit Pawar took oath as the deputy chief minister, while eight legislators of his Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) took oath as ministers in the government led by the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) earlier in the day.

Congress president Kharge and Gandhi spoke with NCP president Sharad Pawar and extended support to him, AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said on Twitter.

“The BJP’s dirty tricks department is working on overdrive in Maharashtra. This is not a legitimately elected government, but an ED-facilitated power grab. The Maharashtra government is a product of corruption and sin,” Venugopal alleged.

“The people have very well identified the traitors, corrupt and compromised leaders of Maharashtra and each of them will be taught the lessons of their lifetime in the next elections,” he said.

On June 29, PM Modi had spoken about corruption and it appears he switched on the “washing machine” and these leaders are now squeaky clean after this oath-taking ceremony, Venugopal said.

- PTI

The Maharashtra Congress on Sunday said the swearing in of Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar as deputy chief minister and eight of his colleagues as ministers in the Eknath Shinde government was “disrobing of democracy” by the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole slammed the BJP for its “power hungry politics”.

“The BJP has an alliance with Ajit Pawar whose party was accused of corruption by Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Patole said, adding that he wondered if the BJP was playing musical chairs in anticipation of Shinde and several of his MLAs being disqualified.

“Just the other day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the Nationalist Congress Party of corruption of Rs 70,000 crore. Now, the BJP will have to answer how the same Narendra Modi and Devendra Fadnavis are sitting in power with an NCP faction,” he said.

Patole said people are aware who is making a deal with whom for power, adding that the departure of the NCP faction will not have any impact on the Congress alliance, which will return to power due to the trust of the voters.

Asserting that the Congress was the only credible party in the state, Patole asked if “Eknath Shinde’s Hindutva” can now co-exist happily with the NCP faction.

Senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan told PTI Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar will have to take a decision to disqualify Shinde and 15 MLAs by August 11, failing which the Congress will move the Supreme Court.

“Today’s development is preparing the ground,” the former chief minister said.

- PTI

Hours after a section of legislators from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in Maharashtra joined the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government, Kerala Minister and senior NCP leader A K Saseendran said the Kerala unit of the party stands with Sharad Pawar.

“We are part of the NCP led by Sharad Pawar. Ajit Pawar and others cheated the party. Those who observe national politics will not be able to justify Ajit Pawar’s decision. His action is guided by his greed towards power,” Saseendran told the media.

Saseendran, who is the Forest Minister in the CPI(M)-led government in Kerala, said the state unit of NCP will stand with the Left Front here.

“NCP will not take any stand to cooperate with the BJP. All the state units have the same opinion,” he said.

The JD(U) on Sunday squarely blamed the BJP for the crossover of Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction in Maharashtra, dubbing the episode as “cowardly and shameful”.

JD(U) chief spokesperson and special advisor K. C. Tyagi maintained the development in Maharashtra smacked of “fear” instilled by the party’s supreme leader, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, into the BJP by uniting the opposition.

Tyagi also alleged that the MLAs of NCP who have sided with Ajit Pawar were “intimidated through misuse of central investigating agencies”, but insisted the development in the western state will have “no impact nationally”.

- PTI

Opposition parties on Sunday lashed out at the BJP after NCP leader Ajit Pawar and eight others were inducted into the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government, saying the ruling party’s “washing machine” has resumed its operations and it can no longer talk about fighting corruption as it has joined hands with tainted leaders.

Reacting to the development, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “Clearly the BJP’s washing machine has resumed its operations. A number of new entrants into the BJP-led alliance in Maharashtra today had been facing serious corruption charges with ED, CBI and Income Tax authorities after them. Now they have all got a clean chit.” The Congress will intensify its efforts to free Maharashtra from the clutches of the BJP, Ramesh asserted.

After inducting “corrupt men” as ministers, the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi cannot talk about fighting corruption, senior TMC leader Babul Supriyo, who was earlier a minister in the Modi government and had switched from the BJP, said.

Calling the BJP “hypocrite”, Supriyo, a minister in the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal, said tainted leaders under the scanner of ED for corruption have been put into a “washing machine” manufactured by the BJP to remove their stains and blemishes.

Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha leader Priyanka Chaturvedi tweeted, “Principles be damned, BJP should be the last party in the country talking about ideological alliances. They are just political opportunists wanting power at any cost. With the latest development in Maharashtra, those MLAs who were corrupt and were jailed are now being sworn in as ministers!” Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav claimed that Maharashtra has emerged as a “bigger laboratory” for the BJP after Madhya Pradesh and the saffron party will do other “experiments” in the run-up to 2024 general elections to stay in power “BJP does this from time to time, first they did this in Madhya Pradesh, and then in Maharashtra, but people are watching this,” Yadav told reporters in Lucknow.

“After the opposition parties’ meeting in Patna, they (BJP) are afraid, and that’s why they want to break opposition parties,” said DMK leader TKS Elangovan.

- PTI

ewly-appointed Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly Jitendra Awhad on Sunday said the number of Nationalist Congress Partyy MLAs with Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar will be clear once party supremo Sharad Pawar starts “calling up” legislators.

Awhad, who was appointed LoP in the Assembly after incumbent LoP Ajit Pawar joined the Eknath Shinde government as deputy chief minister on Sunday, also said the families of several MLAs have called party leaders to voice their opposition to the developments of the day.

A close aide of Ajit Pawar said 36 out of 53 NCP MLAs have extended support to the new deputy CM and the numbers could go to 46 in a few days time.

When queried about such claims, Awhad said, “Wait till Sharad Pawar gets active fully, once he starts dialling numbers of his MLAs.” Lashing out at Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the Mumra-Kalwa MLA from neighbouring Thane district said the former had routinely criticised Ajit Pawar’s role in the Maha Vikas Aghadi dispensation but was joining hands with him now.

- PTI

Queried on Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation probes against some NCP leaders and its role in them switching sides, Mr. Awhad said, “I don’t see any other reason behind these leaders deciding to join the State government. There was no need to do such a thing. Those leaders could have sat aside.” “These leaders should not forget the party made them Ministers in the past 25 years. Now, they are deserting their leader (83-year-old Sharad Pawar) in his twilight years,” Mr. Awhad said.- PTI

The Nationalist Congress Party appointed Jitendra Awhad as Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly after incumbent LoP Ajit Pawar joined the Eknath Shinde government as Deputy Chief Minister on Sunday.

The MLA from Mumbra-Kalwa in neighbouring Thane district said NCP State unit president Jayant Patil had appointed him chief whip of the party and LoP in the Assembly.

“All the MLAs will have to abide my whip,” he asserted in an apparent reference to defection and disqualification angles that are bound to come up in connection with Sunday’s developments brought about by a vertical split in the NCP.- PTI

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday hit out at the BJP after NCP leaders were inducted in the Maharashtra council of ministers, saying the ruling party was on an “MLA purchasing spree”.

“No words are enough to condemn the manner in which BJP has repeatedly undermined the popular mandate in Maharashtra. Not only is democracy being butchered but they are using the national anthem to provide cover for such disgraceful actions,” Mehbooba said in a tweet.

“On one hand, BJP is arresting political opponents on trumped up corruption charges while they themselves are on an MLA purchasing spree. Hard-earned public money is being misused to quench BJPs thirst for power,” she added.

“We will have to take a decision on all those who have violated the party line and have taken the oath. I have not spoken with any of these nine who took the oath. Only Chhagan Bhujbal told me what was happening was not proper.”

On Ajit Pawar’s remark that if the NCP could go with the Shiv Sena [in the MVA govt.], then why not the BJP, Sharad Pawar said: “This may be his stance, but it is not compatible with the NCP’s principles.”

“I had called a meeting of some top leaders [of the party] on July 6 and was to discuss some questions pertaining to changes in the organization. Before that, some colleagues took a completely different stance and are today claiming to be the party. Things will be clear before the public in next two-three days.,” Sharad Pawar says addressing the media.

“There is a question of the future of the NCP. This situation may be new for some but not for me. My aim will be to repeat the scenario of 1980. In 1980, except for six of my 58 MLAs in my party, all had deserted me. I became the leader of just five MLAs and starting touring Maharashtra with the objective of rebuilding my party from scratch. In the next elections, of those who had left me, all were defeated barring three or four... I have full faith in Maharashtra’s public and its youth and I will be touring the State again,” Sharad Pawar says.

“I never knew Ajit Pawar had given his resignation as Leader of Opposition [in the Legislative Assembly]. He certainly has not told us anything…he may have tendered his resignation to the Speaker,” Sharad Pawar says.

“I’m getting phones from leaders of several parties including Mamata Banerjee and Mallikarjun Kharge. So, I am not worried about what happened. Just wait for eight-ten days more,” says Sharad Pawar following his nephew Ajit Pawar joining hands with Shinde-Fadnavis government and being sworn in as a Deputy Chief Minsiter of Maharashtra.

“Some days before, PM Modi had targeted the NCP by remarking that the NCP wallowed in corruption while mentioning the Maharashtra Cooperative Bank scam and the Maharashtra irrigation scam. Today, I am happy that his party, the BJP has sworn-in some members of the NCP as part of the government… I am thankful to the PM for having freed the NCP from his accusations,” NCP supremo Sharad Pawar says.

Sunday afternoon’s events in Mumbai, with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) splitting and much of its senior leadership joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra, are not just being seen as a blow to the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance in the State but also to the attempts to forge a larger opposition unity nationally.

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The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday by calling him the “biggest patron of corruption” after Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar, along with eight others from the party, joined the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government.

Reacting to the development, AAP national spokesperson Sanjay Singh hit out at the prime minister on Twitter. “Narendra Modi is the biggest patron of corruption in the country,” the Rajya Sabha MP said in a tweet in Hindi.

Two days after the Prime Minister gave a guarantee of action against corruption, Pawar was appointed as the deputy chief minister in the Shiv Sena-BJP coalition government in Maharashtra and Bhujbal also inducted into the cabinet, Mr. Singh said.- PTI

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar affirmed that all MLAs are standing united with them, with the party’s support and the awareness of senior leaders. “In a democracy, the majority holds the key. It is evident that a single party alone cannot form the government in Maharashtra, a scenario witnessed since the 1990s,” he said.

We have the blessings of everyone in the party, Mr. Pawar said.

“All that I have stated is official. When I mention having the support of everyone, it means ‘everyone’,” says Ajit Pawar.

As the third party, we have joined the government. Some individuals claim that we have divided the party, but that is incorrect. We are here as the NCP, united in our purpose. While we have voiced criticisms against the Modi government on various occasions, it is undeniable that the safety and security of our nation are entrusted in his leadership, says NCP leader and Minister Chhagan Bhujbal.

Previously, NCP got seven MLAs in Nagaland, and based on the party’s decision, all the MLAs went with BJP. If we were able to collaborate with BJP in Nagaland, there is no reason why we cannot do the same here. Our commitment is to work towards the progress and welfare of Maharashtra, and we are ready to undertake all necessary measures to achieve that goal, says Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar.

Some MLAs are out of the country, but I have personally reached out to all of them and had discussions regarding our decision. I am pleased to state that they are in agreement with our stance, says Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar.

“We joined the government as NCP, and will contest all forthcoming elections on NCP name and symbol,” confirms Ajit Pawar

“Today, we have made the decision to extend our support to the Shinde-Fadnavis government and have taken the oath as ministers,” Ajit Pawar says after being sworn-in as second Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra.

“The allocation of portfolios will be discussed and decided upon at a later stage. Taking into account various factors at the national level, we firmly believe that it is crucial to lend our support for the sake of development and progress,” says Mr. Pawar.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) spokesperson Mahesh Tapase on Sunday said the oath taken by nine NCP MLAs as ministers in the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government does not have official support of the party.

Senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar was sworn in as deputy chief minister while eight MLAs of the party took oath as ministers in the government led by the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (NCP).

In a video message, Tapase said NCP’s party workers, district president, taluka president, youth and women are with party’s national leader Sharad Pawar.

“The oath-taking ceremony in Maharashtra was part of Operation Lotus and it has no official support of NCP. Those who took oath, it is their personal decision and not that of the NCP,” he said.- PTI

Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Sanjay Raut has said “This is not a political earthquake. Some things that were bound to happen in the future have happened. From this it is clear that the Shinde-Fadnavis govt is uneasy. Even after claiming to have the support of 170 MLAs, they need Ajit Pawar and his group to prop them up.”

“This can only mean that Eknath Shinde and his MLAs stand to be disqualified and Shinde will soon be losing his CM’s post.”

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.

Ajit Pawar had been urging the party to free him of the post of LoP as recently as June 21.

“I have worked in many different posts in the past years. I was not much interested in the post of Leader of Opposition. But the party top brass and our MLAs insisted I take it up… Some said I was not tough enough [on the ruling parties]…am I supposed to catch them by the scruff of their necks?,” he had said.

Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar, will be addressing the media shortly at Sahyadri Guest House, Mumbai.

1. Ajit Pawar (as Deputy Chief Minister)
2. Chhagan Bhujbal

3. Dilip Walse-Patil

4. Hasan Mushrif

5. Dhananjay Munde

6. Aditi Sunil Tatkare

7. Aatram Dharamraobaba Bhagwantrao

8. Sanjay Bansode

9. Anil Patil

“Now, Maharashtra has a ‘triple engine’ Sarkar. Our people’s government will operate at the speed of a bullet train,” says Chief Minister Eknath Shinde following the swearing-in ceremony of NCP leader Ajit Pawar and eight other NCP MLAs.

“We are united on the platform of State development. Our government now comprises one Chief Minister and two Deputy Chief Ministers. Ajit Pawar supported our development goals. During the previous Lok Sabha elections, NCP secured 4-5 seats, but it appears that they won’t get a single seat in the coming elections,” remarks Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday said Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar is undeterred by the split in his party and can start afresh.

In a tweet, Raut said, “I just spoke with NCP Sharad Pawar. He said he is firm and people’s support is behind us. We can make a fresh start with Uddhav Thackeray.” Raut said people of Maharashtra will not tolerate such a “circus”, an apparent reference to government formation through vertical splits in political parties, for long.

“Some people seem to be determined to completely spoil Maharashtra’s politics. Let them proceed on their chosen path,” said Raut, in an apparent reference to Ajit Pawar, CM Shinde and the Bharatiya Janata Party.- PTI

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With Ajit Pawar as Deputy Chief Minister, eight MLAs from NCP took oath as Ministers in Shinde-Fadnavis-Pawar government.

Sanjay Bansode joins other NCP MLAs, and is sworn-in as Minsiter at Raj Bhavan today

Aditi Sunil Tatkare and Aatram Dharamraobaba Bhagwantrao join several other NCP leaders who followed Ajit Pawar, and took oath as Ministers in the Shinde-Fadnavis-Pawar government.

Ms. Tatkare became the first woman Minister in the current dispensation.

Dhananjay Munde of the NCP has been sworn-in as a Minister in the Shinde-Fadnavis-Pawar government.

NCP leader Hasan Mushrif takes oath as a Minister in the Shinde-Fadnavis-Pawar government.

Dilip Walse-Patil, a close confidant of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar has been sworn in as a minister

A senior leader from Sharad Pawar’s NCP told The Hindu, “While we are uncertain about the details of the incident, I can assure you that Pawar Saheb is not involved in this ‘drama’.

Chhagan Bhujbal of the NCP has also taken oath as a Minister in the Shinde-Fadnavis-Pawar government