A shocking Sunday was witnessed in Maharashtra politics after Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) strongman Ajit Pawar was sworn in as deputy chief minister in the Eknath Shinde government at Raj Bhavan in Mumbai, while nine party MLAs also took oath as ministers. Ajit will share the post with deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis in the Shinde government.
The nine NCP leaders included Dilip Walse Patil, Hasan Mushrif, Chhagan Bhujbal from the Ajit Pawar faction.
Ajit has been making headlines over the last two months after he was rumoured to be “unhappy” in the NCP over denial of the post of party’s state unit chief, whose reins are now being taken over by Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule and Praful Patel.
For his speech at the celebrations of NCP’s foundation day on June 10, Ajit had said: “Assign me any post in the party organisation, and I will do complete justice to whatever responsibility I am entrusted with.”
It was during Sharad Pawar’s announcement to resign as party chief, causing unrest in cadre, many senior leaders suggested names but Ajit’s did not find any mention. In fact, he was absent when NCP held a press conference to announce withdrawal of Sharad’s resignation.
After Sharad Pawar, it is Ajit Pawar who has a strong hold over the party organisation. He takes keen interest from state to local body elections, and has always delivered desired results for the party.
Before the 2019 assembly elections, Ajit had quit as the Baramati MLA over the speculation of a family feud. He later clarified that he had done so due to the Enforcement Directorate taking Sharad Pawar’s name in a money laundering case pertaining to the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank, of which Ajit was one of the directors.
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