Maharashtra news LIVE: Maharashtra Speaker says ‘no split in NCP’, ‘have to decide who represents it’

The Congress has accused the BJP of orchestrating the NCP split in Maharashtra, asserting that this will fortify opposition unity as parties plan their next moves during a meeting in Bengaluru on July 17 and 18.

“Actually, it is an opportunity for all of us and there is opposition unity. We know this type of tactics of the BJP very much. Now everybody is feeling that we have to be together to fight against these forces. It is going to strengthen opposition unity. On July 17 and 18, we are meeting in Bengaluru, where opposition parties will chalk out the programme,” Venugopal said.

Maharashtra Speaker Rahul Narvekar told CNN-News18 that there is “no split” in the NCP but he will have to decide whether the party is in Opposition or the government. “Have to decide who represents it,” he said.

NCP president Sharad Pawar on Tuesday said only the party of which he is president and Jayant Patil the Maharashtra unit chief should use his photograph. Those who "betrayed" his ideology should not use it, he said, two days after his nephew Ajit Pawar and eight other MLAs of the Nationalist Congress Party joined the BJP-Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra. "Only the party of which I am the national president and Jayant Patil the state president can use my photograph," Sharad Pawar said.

Maharashtra Minister and BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar issued a bold challenge to the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, daring them to showcase the number of supporting MLAs they have. Ajit Pawar joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government on Sunday as deputy chief minister while eight other NCP MLAs took oath as ministers.

The NCP has 53 MLAs in the 288-member Assembly. The Ajit Pawar camp has claimed the support of more than 40 MLAs.

Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar after the state cabinet meeting said that most of the NCP MLAs are with him. “There was nothing new as such. We and Chief Minister Shinde have worked together in the cabinet. We have experience for the cabinet. Most of them were ministers in that cabinet. BJP also has some ministers, like Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil - when he was in Congress, I worked with him. So it is nothing new. All works are properly going on. You should not worry at all, the majority of (NCP) MLAs are with me,” he said.

Amid the NCP crisis in Maharashtra, newly appointed Deputy CM Ajit Pawar calls all NCP MPs, MLAs, MLCs, District heads and State delegates, asking them to be present for a meeting on 5th July in MET Bandra.

At the same time, Sharad Pawar calls all its members on the same day (5th July) at YB Chavan Auditorium.

Maharashtra NCP president Jayant Patil on Tuesday said the group led by Ajit Pawar has no right to remove him from the post.

He also claimed that all MLAs of the NCP (a total of 53) are with the party chief Sharad Pawar.

Patil's statement has come as Ajit Pawar's camp on Tuesday appointed Sunil Tatkare as the Maharashtra NCP president in place of Patil. The Ajit Pawar camp also asked the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker to disqualify Jayant Patil and Jitendra Awhad from membership of the House.

The Maharashtra cabinet on Tuesday released a booklet highlighting important decisions taken by the Eknath Shinde-led government in the last one year.

Chief Minister Shinde, Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar unveiled the booklet highlighting works done in the past one year.

This was the first weekly state cabinet meeting after Sunday's political developments wherein nine MLAs of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Ajit Pawar joined the government, which completed one year in office on June 30.

The inauguration of the new NCP office in Mumbai was delayed due to missing keys. Party leaders were locked out and had to wait for the keys to be handed over. Read more

Newly sworn-in Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, along with other NCP leaders, has reached at Maharashtra Assembly for the cabinet meeting. CM Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis have also arrived at state assembly.

Congress Legislative Party meeting begins at Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha.

On Tuesday, leaders from Uddhav Thackeray's faction arrived at 'Matoshree' residence for the meeting called by him. The discussion will be on--current political crisis in Maharashtra, the future of Maha Vikas Aghadi, and how the three allies will go to the election.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar leaves from his residence 'Silver Oak' in Mumbai today.

Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat on Tuesday said that the Leader of the Opposition will be from the party which has the maximum number of MLAs. Yesterday, NCP chief Sharad Pawar also stated if Congress wants to appoint their leader of the Opposition then it would be a valid demand as the party with the maximum number of MLAs gets to appoint the LoP.

Nationalist Congress Party leader Praful Patel has claimed 51 out of the 53 party MLAs had told NCP chief Sharad Pawar that a possibility of joining hands with the BJP should be explored after the MVA government in Maharashtra collapsed last year.

If the NCP can form government with the Shiv Sena, why not with the BJP, Patel, who has switched over to Ajit Pawar's side, said in an interview to Marathi news channel Zee 24 Taas.

Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar has left from his office to inaugurate a new NCP party office near Mantralaya in Mumbai today.

Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Tuesday accused the BJP of toppling Opposition governments in states such as Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra in the last few years, and said it was "over to the Supreme Court" to act on the trend.

In a tweet, Sibal said, "The BJP: Toppled by inducement of office and otherwise the following elected opposition governments: Uttarakhand (2016); Arunachal Pradesh (2016); Karnataka (2019); Madhya Pradesh (2020); Maharashtra (2022)."

"The law now permits it? Over to the Supreme Court!" the independent Rajya Sabha MP said.

Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar will shortly inaugurate a new NCP party office near Mantralaya in Mumbai on Tuesday.

Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan has claimed that rebel NCP leader Ajit Pawar had struck a deal with PM Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah that he would become CM by August.

Congress legislature party leader Balasaheb Thorat has convened a meeting on Tuesday to take stock of the current political situation in Maharashtra. A Congress politician said the legislature party will also decide on whether to stake claim to the post of leader of opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly.

In an interview with ANI news agency, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadanvis said that Sharad is the key person to bring the opposition parties together. Further, on dynasty politics, Fadnavis said, Pawar has put his daughter Supriya Sule in the forefront in order to transfer his legacy.

"Sharad Pawar is politically alert. He is counted among those politicians who know politics from every side. He definitely wants to transfer the legacy of his party just like all family parties want. In order to transfer his legacy, he has put Supriyaji in the forefront. If he wanted to take a backseat, he would have made Supriya Sule party president, but he has made her a working president. He has established his process of transferring his legacy but the person sitting in the driving seat is Sharad Pawar only," Fadnavis said.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) working president Praful Patel quashed rumours of him going to Delhi for the central ministerial post after joining the Maharashtra government.

Patel said Monday that the party hasn't discussed anything about Delhi but is focusing on the state government.

"We have not discussed anything about Delhi, we have only discussed the formation of our government in Maharashtra," Patel told.

A day after Ajit Pawar sworn is Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister in the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government and claimed the support of 40 MLAs, two of them have returned to uncle Sharad Pawar. As per the Times of India report, Sata MLA Makrand Patil and North KOrad MLA Balasaheb Patil have left Ajit Pawar's camp and returned to Sharad Pawar's camp.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar sacked party's working president Praful Patel and general secretary and treasurer Sunil Tatkare, who have sided with Ajit Pawar in his revolt, for engaging in "anti-party” activities. The Ajit Pawar camp quickly hit back by removing state NCP president Jayant Patil and making new appointments.

 The party is initiating appropriate action for formal disqualification of Patel and Tatkare as MPs under the 10th Schedule of the Constitution.

Sharad Pawar's action came soon after NCP working president Supriya Sule, in a letter, demanded action against Patel and Tatkare, whose daughter is one of the new ministers in the Shinde cabinet. The Ajit Pawar camp soon hit back by appointing Tatkare as the Maharashtra NCP president in place of Jayant Patil. It also asked the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker to disqualify Jayant Patil and Jitendra Awhad from membership of the House. Praful Patel told a press conference in Mumbai he has appointed Tatkare as the Maharashtra NCP president and Ajit Pawar as the leader of the NCP legislature party, while Anil Bhaidas Patil, who took oath as a minister on Sunday, will continue to be the party whip in the Assembly.

"People of the country are with Sharad Pawar and the party will move ahead under him. As far as Praful Patel is concerned, he is a senior leader of the party and respects Sharad Pawar a lot," says NCP leader KK Sharma over the crisis in the party triggered by Ajit Pawar's revolt.

Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde addressed the media on the developments of the NCP split that saw Ajit Pawar take oath as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. 

During a press conference Shinde said, "...Ajit Pawar has said that he is supporting the agenda of development...State cabinet expansion will happen soon"

A day after NCP stalwart Ajit Pawar joined the Maharashtra government as deputy chief minister with some senior leaders, several workers of the party visited its south Mumbai office and extended their support to patriarch Sharad Pawar.

Ajit Pawar, however, has asked his colleagues to refrain from making any public statements.

Several NCP leaders and workers from districts and tehsils neighbouring Mumbai rushed to the party office to extend their support to the Pawar senior.

Former state home minister Anil Deshmukh and several others have posted their pictures with Sharad Pawar on social media with the tagline: “Saheb, always with you…”.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said that NCP leader Sharad Pawar has put his daughter Supriya Sule, MP, in the forefront to "transfer his legacy" and that he is the "driver of opposition unity".

In an interview with ANI Editor Smita Prakash which was recorded on June 29 before the crisis in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Fadnavis hit out at the dynastic politics and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has lessened its impact in national politics.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Monday disqualified nine MLAs including Ajit Pawar, who were sworn in as ministers in the Shinde-Fadnavis government on July 2, for indulging in anti-party activities.

The NCP moved a disqualification petition against the nine MLAs to Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar.

"The State Discipline Committee passed a resolution dated 2 July 2023 recorded the factum of disqualification of the said 9 (nine) MLAs from the party due to their indulgence in anti-party activities," the letter served to the nine disqualified MLAs said.

Ajit Pawar and Chhagan Bhujbal along with Dilip Patil, Hasan Mushrif, Dhananjay Mundo, Dharmaraobaba Atram, Aditi Tatkare, Sanjay Bansode and Anil Patil joined Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis-led Maharashtra government on Sunday.

" This alliance happened with the support of 40 NCP MLAs...Sharad Pawar is senior leader of NCP but we can't ignore the contributions of Ajit Pawar either, he worked for 40 years for NCP...": Amol Mitkari, NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) spokesperson

Maharashtra minister Shambhuraj Desai on Monday said the chain of events that resulted in Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar joining the Eknath Shinde government happened "suddenly" and asserted that all Shiv Sena legislators were happy.

Pawar joined the government as deputy chief minister while eight MLAs, including Chhagan Bhujbal, were made ministers on Sunday.

The Thane guardian minister said a cabinet expansion was on the cards, adding that 13 berths are now left after Sunday's induction saw nine new ministers.

"Even us ministers were not aware (of Sunday's developments). We were told to meet at Raj Bhavan. Everything happened suddenly," he said in a press conference here.

Accusing the government of using probe agencies to threaten the BJP's rivals and engineering splits within them, Opposition parties on Monday said such actions will only strengthen their unity.

"Yesterday when the BJP Washing Machine restarted in Mumbai with its ICE (Incometax, CBI, ED) detergent, BJP-inspired obituaries on Opposition unity were being planted. The obit writers will be disappointed," Congress leader Jairam Ramesh tweeted, in a dig at the BJP over the NCP's Ajit Pawar and eight others joining the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government.

"If anything the Mumbai operations have strengthened Opposition resolve," the Congress general secretary (Communications) said, tagging a picture of 'Modi Washing Powder' with the tagline 'saare daag chutkiyon mein dhule (removes all stains in a jiffy)'.

Other Opposition leaders including TMC's Derek O'Brien, PDP's Mehbooba Mufti and CPM's Sitaram Yechury also accused the BJP of using threats of probe agencies to sabotage the efforts towards Opposition unity before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party on Monday removed its Thane city unit president and former MP Anand Paranjpe from the post.

Senior NCP leader Jitendra Awhad tweeted the information of Paranjpe's sacking along with a photograph of the latter greeting Ajit Pawar, who broke the party on Sunday and joined the Eknath Shinde government.

Paranjpe was a Shiv Sena Lok Sabha MP from Thane between 2008 and 2014 and then won the 2014 polls from Kalyan seat.

However, mid-way he shifted to the NCP but lost in the 2019 polls.

"Have you forgotten that Sharad Pawar is the party's national president?," says Ajit Pawar on being asked who will be NCP national president now.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)'s ‘sacked’ MP and NCP working president Praful Patel informed that he has appointed Ajit Pawar as leader of NCP legislature party.

Patel continues to hold the NCP chief post. 

Further, another ‘sacked’ has been appointed as new state president of Nationalist Congress Party, Patel informed. 

“I, as the National President, Nationalist Congress Party hereby order removal of the names of Shri Sunil Tatkare and Shri Praful Patel from the Register of Members of NCP Party for anti-party activities.” NCP patriarch Sharad Pawar issued a statement, following working president Supriya Sule's letter seeking the two MPs dismissal.  

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) sent a letter to Ajit Pawar and 8 other MLAs regarding resolution by State Discipline Committee to move disqualification proceedings against them

NCP Working President and MP, Supriya Sule in a letter to party chief Sharad Pawar recommends disciplinary action against MPs Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare

"Breaking political parties has become the new normal in Indian politics. This is another addition to that sequence. We have seen this in Karnataka, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Punjab earlier. This is yet another example of unethical conduct," says Chhattisgarh Deputy CM TS Singh Deo on Ajit Pawar and other NCP leaders joining the NDA fold in Maharashtra.

Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel addressed the media on Monday and said, "..Yesterday a few more people got washed in the washing machine...through central agencies, they first broke Shiv Sena, they were investigating Shiv Sena leaders & then suddenly investigation was closed...a few days back, NCP leaders were being investigated...the moment they left NCP & joined BJP, they are now ministers & have become part of the cabinet (Shinde-BJP cabinet) & they took the oath...through central agencies, they are strangling democracy..."

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Monday rejected nephew Ajit pawar's mutiny in joining hands with Eknath Shinde-led government, and taking oath as the deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. 

Asked whether Ajit Pawar's rebellion on Sunday had his blessings, the NCP chief said, "It is a mean thing to say. Only those with a mean and low intellect can say this."

"I have set out on a tour of the state and galvanize the cadre. They should not feel disillusioned with what some leaders have done," Sharad Pawar said.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Arvind Sawant on Monday said that three days ago, PM Modi called the NCP corrupt, and then, the party inducted nine NCP leaders into the cabinet so people understand such political games.

Maharashtra minister Girish Mahajan told ANI news agency, "CM Eknath Shinde will take the final call regarding the portfolios of the 9 MLAs who have taken oath yesterday". Further taking a jibe at Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut, Mahajan said, "No one takes him seriously. He only blabbers stuff that has no sense", and added, "The condition of NCP is the same as that of Shiv Sena now".

A young lady removed the photo of NCP leader Praful Patel, who has joined the Eknath Shinde-BJP government in Maharashtra from the Nationalist Student Congress office in Delhi.

In a statement given to the PTI news agency, Janata Dal-United chief Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh slammed the BJP and said that the saffron party has continued to destabilize and topple governments using money power by eventually, "public will give the party a befitting reply".

JD(S) leader & former Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy has expressed concern over the political situation in the country. Kumaraswamy asked, "After yesterday's shocking development in Maharashtra, I am fearing who will emerge as the Ajit Pawar in Karnataka?"

Former Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti lashed out at the BJP for creating a ruckus in Maharashtra politics. Mufti said, "They (BJP) kept calling them corrupt and now they have taken them into their government. This shows that BJP is the most corrupt party. BJP has misused the powers of ED, CBI to finish the opposition in the country".

Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar along with NCP leaders Praful Patel, Chhagan Bhujbal, and Lok Sabha MP Sunil Tatkare were seen together with Dy CM Devendra Fadnavis posing pictures and smiling on Monday.

Praful Patel, a senior leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and a close aide of Sharad Pawar joined BJP-Eknath Shinde's government on Sunday.

In a video, when Patel was asked by a media person if he had "ditched the party and Sharad Pawar". Visibly angry, Patel rolled up the car window as the vehicle moved forward.