Mumbai, July 2: Ajit Pawar, backed by 29 MLAs, will join the Maharashtra government and would share the role of Deputy Chief Minister with Devendra Fadnavis, according to sources.
As Sharad Pawar’s party faces a split in Maharashtra, Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar, who is supported by 29 MLAs, is expected to take oath as minister. Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, are in attendance at Raj Bhawan to meet with the Governor.
Ajit Pawar, senior leader of the Nationalist Congress Party, met with several party leaders and MLAs on Sunday at his official house in Mumbai.
However, NCP president Sharad Pawar, who was in Pune at the time, claimed he was unaware of the meeting but said that Ajit Pawar, as the Maharashtra Assembly’s leader of opposition (LoP), had the authority to summon a conference of members.
The meeting is significant in light of Ajit Pawar’s recent statement that he does not want to continue as LoP and instead wants to work in the party structure. Senior
NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal and party working president Supriya Sule were among those present at the meeting, which took place at Ajit Pawar’s official mansion ‘Devgiri,’ although state party president Jayant Patil was absent.
The meeting also included some MLAs. The meeting’s agenda was unknown. Meanwhile, Sharad Pawar informed reporters in Pune that the meeting in Mumbai was unknown to him. ‘On July 6, I have convened a meeting of top officials, and party decisions will be considered,’ he stated. Ajit Pawar, the NCP chairman, also stated that as the LoP, he had the authority to summon a meeting of parliamentarians.
