NCP Leader Ajit Pawar Takes Oath as Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister

In a significant development within the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), senior leader Ajit Pawar was sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, under the leadership of Eknath Shinde, on Sunday.

Sources suggest that Ajit Pawar and his supporters felt displeased when NCP President Sharad Pawar and party's working president Supriya Sule attended an Opposition meeting in Patna.

Governor Ramesh Bais administered the oath of office to Ajit Pawar as the Deputy Chief Minister during a ceremony held at the Raj Bhawan. Additionally, eight other NCP leaders took their oaths as ministers.

The newly sworn-in ministers include Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse Patil, Hasan Mushrif, Dhananjay Munde, Aditi Tatkare, Dharmarao Atram, Anil Patil, and Sanjay Bansode.

Rahul Narwekar, the Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly, confirmed Ajit Pawar's resignation as the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lower House, which was subsequently accepted.

Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal and NCP working president Praful Patel were also present at the Raj Bhawan during the ceremony.

Claiming support from 40 out of the total 53 NCP MLAs, Maharashtra BJP President Chandrashekhar Bawankule added another dimension to the political landscape.

It's worth noting that elections for the 288-member state Assembly are scheduled for next year.

This political development unfolds a year after Eknath Shinde's revolt against the then-undivided Shiv Sena, leading to the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

On June 30, 2022, Shinde assumed the role of Chief Minister, with Devendra Fadnavis, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, as the Deputy Chief Minister.

Expressing his thoughts, Ashish Shelar, the President of BJP's Mumbai unit and a former State Minister, said, "CM Eknath Shinde supported Prime Minister Narendra Modi to uphold Hindutva.

Today, a major faction of the NCP led by Ajit Pawar is democratically joining the Shinde and Fadnavis government, extending their support to Modiji."

Earlier in the day, Ajit Pawar held a meeting with several party leaders and MLAs at his official residence 'Devgiri' in Mumbai. Prominent attendees included senior NCP leader Bhujbal and party's working president Supriya Sule, although the latter left the meeting early.

Meanwhile, NCP President Sharad Pawar, who was in Pune at the time, claimed to be unaware of the meeting.

Following the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls, the Shiv Sena, led by Uddhav Thackeray, severed its ties with long-time ally BJP. Consequently, Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar assumed the roles of Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister, respectively, in a hastily organized ceremony at the Raj Bhawan. However, their government lasted a mere 80 hours.

Subsequently, Thackeray formed the MVA government in alliance with the NCP and Congress.

Last year in June, Shinde's revolt caused a split in the Shiv Sena, resulting in the collapse of the MVA government. As a result, Shinde assumed the position of Chief Minister with support from the BJP.