Maharashtra NCP crisis: The turbulence in the Maharashtra political turf is ceasing to ease as Monday (July 3) remained a politically charged day, following Ajit Pawar’s surprising move of jumping the ship from being the Leader of the Opposition a night ago to a Deputy Chief Minister. After Ajit’s massive move which brought NCP to the pitch of the factionalism game (Pawar vs Pawar) gave a flashback of the Sena vs Sena episode not too long ago which made the headlines last year. Both factions (Sharad Pawar and Ajit) will hold separate meetings on Wednesday. Day 2 of the Maharashtra NCP crisis was capped by a spate of sackings and counter-sackings from both factions of the party.
- Ajit Pawar on Monday met Devendra Fadnavis to discuss the allocation of cabinet portfolios to the nine MLAs who joined the Maharashtra government on Sunday.
- A day after Ajit Pawar was sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra in the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government, Sharad Pawar sacked NCP’s working president Praful Patel and general secretary and treasurer Sunil Tatkare who supported Ajit in his rebellion, for their ‘anti-party’ activities.
- Retorting to the party supremo’s move, the Ajit Pawar camp removed state NCP president Jayant Patil while also announcing new appointments. The side appointed Tatkare as the Maharashtra NCP president in place of Patil. They also asked the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker to disqualify Jayant Patil and Jitendra Awhad from membership of the House.
- Sharad Pawar issued notices to Patel and Tatkare and accused them of spearheading the defections of nine MLAs without his knowledge and consent. “Your action of supporting Shri Ajit Pawar and eight other MLAs who have sworn oath as ministers in violation of the party's direction and mandate amount to anti-party activities. I remove your names from the membership register of the party in view of your actions,” he wrote.
- The NCP (Sharad Pawar camp) moved a petition before Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar seeking the disqualification of Ajit Pawar and eight other MLAs who took oath as ministers in the Eknath Shinde-led government.
- The Ajit Pawar faction held a joint press conference later in the evening in which Praful Patel sought blessings from Sharad Pawar. "Today (Monday) is Guru Purnima; we all wish that Sharad Pawar continues to bless us," he said.
- Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said that he had the support of ‘maximum’ NCP MLAs while adding that he has sought the disqualification of party MLAs Jayant Patil and Jitendra Awhad (who belong to rival group) from the House, in a letter to the Assembly Speaker.
- Amid the spate of appointments and disqualifications in NCP, Ajit was asked who the national president of the party is, to which he said, “The party's national president is Sharad Pawar. Have you forgotten?"
- Sharad Pawar, who vowed to rebuild the NCP, visited Satara on Monday and said that he has launched a statewide tour to strengthen the NCP. Before this, he visited the memorial of his mentor and Maharashtra's first chief minister Yashwantrao Chavan in Karad and paid floral tributes to him.
- Senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan claimed he has information that the BJP has promised Ajit Pawar the post of Maharashtra chief minister. "As per our information, he has been given a promise of chief minister's post by pushing Eknath Shinde aside with the help of Assembly speaker's decision (on disqualification of 16 Shiv Sena MLAs)" he claimed.
(With PTI inputs)
ALSO READ | With Ajit Pawar by his side, Praful Patel says, "Request Sharad Pawar with folded hands..."
ALSO READ | Maharashtra NCP crisis: Sharad Pawar disqualifies Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare
