In a major shock to the NCP, top leader Ajit Pawar defects to the ruling alliance along with supporters
In a drama packed Sunday, a massive blow was dealt to the NCP and its leader Sharad Pawar, as Ajit Pawar, along with eight other NCP legislators, joined the Shinde-Fadnavis ruling coalition. This move has given way to a new chapter in Maharashtra politics, which has been in unstable turmoil since the past four years.Â
Gears started churning when Uddhav Thackeray came into power through the triple alliance of MVA, with a major upheaval last year when dozens of Shiv Sena legislators changed loyalty and sought an alliance with BJP, forming a government with Eknath Shinde as the chief minister and Devendra Fadnavis as the deputy CM. And now, Ajit Pawar has joined the ruling government as deputy CM, leaving the ambit of NCP.
Oath taking by Ajit Pawar and aides
Oaths were taken by Ajit Pawar and his eight other supporters at the Raj Bhavan. Amongst them are party behemoths and the NCP founder and president Sharad Pawar’s trusted, long term supporters like Dhananjay Mundhe, Chchagan Bhujbal, Dileep Walase Patil and Hasan Mushrif. Others also included Sanjay Bansode, Aditi Tatkare and Anil Patil.
Along with Ajit Pawar in this second rebellion of his, supporting him is Praful Patel, Sharad Pawar’s one of the oldest and closest associates. He recently also assumed the seat of the working president of the NCP alongside Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule. Out of 54 MLAs in the assembly, Ajit Pawar has submitted the names of 40 supporting MLAs to governor Ramesh Bais. as per sources, he is likely to approach the Election Commission (EC) to acquire the party’s name and symbol.
Ajit’s dissatisfaction at being sidelined in the party was quietly brewing, with the recent surprise resignation of Sharad Pawar as the party president and Supriya Sule’s appointment as the working president adding fuel to the fire.
Image Source: The Economic Times
In a press conference hours after the move, Sharad Pawar betrayed no signs of disquietude and answered questions calmly and nonchalantly. He said that although the act comes as a surprise to others, it was not unexpected for him, and that it was ‘not a googly, but a robbery’. He also made it clear that the party will not be embroiled in a legal battle, but instead go to the grassroots level and seek people’s support.
He affirmed that he will reach out to the constituencies to rebuild the party again. Disciplinary action will be taken against those who have violated the law.
Supriya Sule commented that the turn of events was ‘painful’, but it will not change her relation with Ajit Pawar.
Meanwhile, Opposition parties have severely criticized BJP in the wake of events, calling it a ‘washing machine’ strategy to clean tainted leaders, and denounced the whole incident as a ‘ED facilitated power grab’. These allegations have their source in the fact that most of the defectors have serious corruption charges of the ED, CBI and the Income Tax authorities on them, which are now likely to get a clean chit, according to Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh.
The Congress has expressed its support to the NCP, and its president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi have spoken with Sharad Pawar.
