In a dramatic turn of events in Maharashtra politics, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and former Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Ajit Pawar, along with 29 MLAs, have defected and joined the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state. Ajit Pawar was sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister at the Raj Bhavan on Sunday, July 2. He will share the post with BJP's Devendra Fadnavis.
Along with Ajit Pawar, senior leaders of NCP Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse Patil, Aditi Tatkare, Dhananjay Munder, Hasan Mushrif, Ramraje Nimbalkar, Sanjay Bansode, Dharmarav Baba Atram, and Anil Bhaidas Patil took oath as Ministers.
Ajit Pawar's joining the Sena-BJP led Maharashtra government has come as a huge setback for the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) combine consisting of Congress, NCP, and the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) party. This also comes at a time when Opposition parties across India are coming together to form an anti-BJP front ahead of the 2024 general elections.
Before switching sides, Ajit Pawar called for a meeting of NCP legislators at his Mumbai residence on Sunday. The meeting was attended by NCP working president Supriya Sule and other senior leaders. NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, who was in Pune, told the media that he was unaware of the meeting.
Reacting to the development, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that he welcomes Ajit Pawar and the other NCP MLAs who have joined his government. “The double engine sarkar has become a triple engine sarkar now,” Shinde said. The Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP claims that they have the support of 43 out of the 53 NCP MLAs.
