In another setback for Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Chief Sharad Pawar, all the seven NCP MLAs in in Nagaland have sent a letter of support to the Ajit Pawar faction of the party.
NCP Nagaland president Vanthungo Odyuo has confirmed that all the seven NCP MLAs in the north-eastern state sent a letter in favor of Deputy Chief Minister Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar on July 20 morning. Vanthungo Odyuo said that he has all the papers required for their support and he has submitted those to the ‘high command’ July 20, morning.
Earlier this month, in a surprise move, NCP’s Ajit Pawar joined hands with the BJP-Shiv Sena, along with eight NCP MLAs. His political manoeuvre split the party founded by his uncle Sharad Pawar and changed the political equations of Maharashtra ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
While Ajit Pawar has drawn support from NCP leaders like Praful Patel, Chhagan Bhujbal, and Dilip Walse Patil and claimed his faction to be the ‘real NCP’, Sharad Pawar has also asserted himself to be the party boss by expelling several leaders for ‘anti-party activities’.
Ajit Pawar’s move is akin to the way Eknath Shinde split the undivided Shiv Sena last year and joined hands with the BJP, thereby pulling the Uddhav Thackeray led Maha Vikas Aghadi Government out of power and securing the Chief Minister’s post for himself.
On July 3, Ajit Pawar joined Eknath Shinde-led Government in Maharashtra and took oath as the deputy Chief Minister of the State.
Ajit Pawar justified his party’s decision to join the NDA Government in Maharashtra and emphasised that the country has progressed under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He explained that the decision was taken as they intend to contest the upcoming polls with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
On July 2, after NCP leader Ajit Pawar and eight other party leaders joined the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance in Maharashtra in a surprise and dramatic political move, the party filed a disqualification petition with the assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar against its nine leaders.
The crisis in NCP was triggered by Ajit Pawar switching sides on July 2, and joining the Eknath Shinde-BJP Government as Deputy Chief Minister. Eighth other NCP MLAs took oath on July 2 with Pawar as Ministers.
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Sharad Pawar has moved a disqualification petition against the nine MLAs to Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar.
Apart from Ajit Pawar, Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Patil, Hasan Mushrif, Dhananjay Mundo, Dharmaraobaba Atram, Aditi Tatkare, Sanjay Bansode and Anil Patil joined Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis Maharashtra Government as ministers on July 2.
Sharad Pawar has removed Praful Patel, who was his close aide, and Sunil Tatkare from the party for “anti-party activities”.
