NCP Ajit Pawar’s faction leader Chhagan Bhujbal on Wednesday claimed support of 40 MLAs and MLCs. He said, “More than 40 MLAs and MLCs are with us. We have done all the due diligence before taking the oath. We did not take the oath just like that.”
The NCP led by Sharad Pawar is holding a meeting of its members at YB Chavan Auditorium in Mumbai while Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar is at a meeting of NCP MPs, MLAs, MLCs, district heads and state delegates at Mumbai Education Trust (MET) Bandra. The meeting at YB Chavan Auditorium has a picture of Sharad Pawar on the stage. The group led by Ajit Pawar has placed picture of Sharad Pawar along with their leaders and has also prominently displayed the party’s election symbol ‘clock’.
The two sessions in Mumbai are anticipated to reveal the precise numbers as neither side has yet provided an estimate of the number of MLAs who back them.
The Ajit Pawar’s camp is reportedly requesting MLAs to make a practical decision as they respect Sharad Pawar, but time has changed now, and they should go with the flow while Sharad Pawar’s NCP is relying on the 83-year-old’s popularity and experience.
Before today’s meeting, Ajit Pawar faction leaders reportedly called MLAs and urged them to join them in order to support them in the 2024 elections.
“Joining us will help you in the 2024 elections. If there are projects that are incomplete in your constituency, if the funds aren’t passed, we will help you in getting all these funds for the projects,” Ajit Pawar camp has told NCP leaders, according to sources.
As legislators arrived at the venue, Ajit Pawar supporters are making them sign an affidavit. Sources said that these signatures will be succumbed to the Election Commission of India and stake claim to the party name and symbol.
All party leaders have been given a summons to a meeting at Mumbai’s YB Chavan Centre by the Sharad Pawar faction as well.
The meetings take place only a few days after Ajit Pawar joined the BJP-Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra government.
Tussel between Pawars : Three days after Ajit Pawar broke the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and took the oath of office as Maharashtra’s new deputy chief minister, the two groups are conducting meetings of their respective supporting MLAs at two different locations in Mumbai. With neither sides having given a clear figure of the number of MLAs supporting them yet, the two meetings in Mumbai are expected to bring forth the exact numbers.
Ajit Pawar and eight other MLAs who defected last week are the subject of a petition filed by Sharad Pawar’s NCP with Speaker Narwekar. Sharad Pawar, who created the NCP in 1999, continues to serve as the party’s leader, and the party has also written to the Election Commission of India (EC) to confirm this.
