Maharashtra: Ajit Pawar upsets MVA's maths in Maharashtra, splits NCP; big win for BJP?

Four times Deputy CM Ajit Pawar has taken oath as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra for the third time since 2019. In 2019, Ajit Pawar took the oath as the deputy CM with Devendra Fadnavis as the chief minister.

That government was replaced by the Maha Vikas Aghadi government led by Uddhav Thackeray in which Ajit Pawar was again the deputy chief minister. On July 2, Ajit Pawar was again the post again went to him -- this time he will be sharing it with Devendra Fadnavis. 

NCP leaders Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse Patil and Praful Patel also took oath as Maharashtra Ministers. According to party sources, Ajit Pawar has the support of 30 out of the 53 NCP MLAs, India Today reported on Sunday.

The Sunday development has come as a shock for the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra, comprising Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP, and Congress. The alliance has been working out a seat-sharing formula ahead of the Lok Sabha and the Maharashtra assembly elections, due in the second half of the next year.

Till Sunday morning, MVA had 122 MLAs in the Maharashtra Assembly. In the last two years, the state BJP has struck twice to break the MVA opposition alliance in Maharashtra.

#WATCH | NCP leader Ajit Pawar takes oath as Maharashtra Deputy CM in the presence of CM Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis pic.twitter.com/3l3p1Fi9nB

— ANI (@ANI) July 2, 2023

The big shift came three weeks after NCP supremo Sharad Pawar made Supriya Sule and Praful Patel the working presidents of the Nationalist Congress Party. Ajit Pawar has been upset with the development after being denied the post of party’s state unit chief.

He had even offered to resign from the post of Leader of Opposition, seeking an organisational responsibility. The party discussed the matter on Wednesday at the national executive of the party in Delhi and the final decision is expected in two months.

Ajit Pawar on Wednesday while speaking at the party event in Mumbai had said, "I was never interested in working as Leader of Opposition but accepted the role on demand of the party MLAs. Assign me any post in the party organisation and I will do complete justice to whatever responsibility given to me."

Earlier on Sunday, ANI reported that NCP working president Supriya Sule, party leader Praful Patel and others had reached Ajit Pawar's residence for the meeting.

Fresh visuals shared by news agency ANI showed NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal and other party leaders, including Ajit Pawar, are present at the Maharashtra Raj Bhavan. 

Reacting to the development, NCP president Sharad Pawar said: “While I don’t know exactly what the topic of discussion is, Ajit Pawar has a right to call meetings of the NCP legislative party as Leader of Opposition.”

The NCP chief denied any ‘pressure tactics’ on part of Ajit Pawar, remarking that he himself has called for a meeting of party brass on July 6 to address certain issues of party organisation.

Reacting sharply to the development, NCP spokesperson Mahesh Bharet Tapase  said most of the NCP leaders are with Sharad Pawar. "We won't recognise the oath-taking ceremony that took place at Raj Bhavan," says NCP spokesperson Mahesh Bharat Tapase.

Uddhav Thackeray faction Shiv Sena spokesperson Anand Dubey said: "Those opposition leaders who used to curse the Maharashtra government till yesterday, they are taking the oath as Deputy CM today. Such a change of heart, is this because of the fear of ED?" 

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said that voters will not tolerate this game.

In response, the BJP unit said that NCP's decision to extend support to the BJP-Shiv Sena combine and join the government is a blow to Opposition unity ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Terming the decision a strong resistance to Congress' plan to foist Rahul Gandhi as leader of the Opposition and PM candidate, BJP sources told India Today: "This decision couldn’t have arrived without the approval of Sharad Pawar and is a result of Congress trying to foist Rahul Gandhi as the leader of the Opposition and PM candidate for 2024. Rahul Gandhi and Congress’s high handedness is the reason for NCP breaking ranks."