On Sunday, Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar joined the Maharashtra cabinet as deputy chief minister, backed by numerous MLAs. He will hold the position with BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis.
This move comes only days after Ajit Pawar announced his intention to resign as Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly.
Along with Ajit Pawar, 9 NCP leaders took oath as ministers, including Chhagan Bhujbal, Dhananjay Munde, and Dilip Walse Patil. The inauguration event was held in Raj Bhawan.
Ajit Pawar had earlier met with certain party leaders and MLAs at his official residence in Mumbai. The meeting was unknown to NCP chief Sharad Pawar.
“I do not know exactly why this meeting has been called but, being the leader of the Opposition, he [Ajit Pawar] has the right to call a meeting of MLAs. He does that regularly. I don’t have much detail about this meeting,” Pawar had said.
Senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal and working president Supriya Sule were among those present at the meeting, which was held at Ajit Pawar’s official mansion ‘Devgiri,’ although state party president Jayant Patil was absent.
Following Ajit Pawar’s mutiny, the NCP is on the verge of a split, less than a month after Sharad Pawar quit as party chief only to resign three days later.