Ajit Pawar joins Shinde-Fadnavis Govt: From Chagan Bhujbal to Dilip Walse Patel - These NCP leaders ’defected’ with him
Senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar led a ‘rebellion’ on Sunday, taking oath as Deputy CM of Maharashtra. Nine MLAs joined him, reportedly upset with Sharad Pawar's decision to ally with the Congress.
Senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar led a rebellion of sorts on Sunday afternoon taking oath as Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra under the Eknath Shinde administration. He was accompanied by eight MLAs who will now be allocated various portfolios under the NDA government in the state.
According to reports quoting sources, the MLAs accompanying Pawar to the Raj Bhawan had been upset with NCP supremo Sharad Pawar's 'unilateral' decision to share the stage and ally with Rahul Gandhi at the opposition unity meet in Bihar last month.
The development also comes in the wake of announcements that the Maharashtra government would soon expand its Cabinet. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde however said that a seat sharing agreement was yet to be ironed out.
Here's a full list of NCP MLAs who joined the government today:
Ajit Pawar
Chhagan Bhujbal
Hasan Mushrif
Aditi Tatkare
Dhananjay Munde
Dilip Walse Patil
Dharmarao Baba Atram
Anil Patil
Sanjay Bansode
Maharashtra has seen four oath-taking ceremonies in as many years at its stately Raj Bhavan. Indeed, this is the third time that Pawar has been sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister since the 2019 elections.
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Earlier in the day a slew of party leaders also attended a meeting at his residence. The meeting - that NCP chief Sharad Pawar later said he was unaware of - was attended by the party’s national working president Praful Patel and Supriya Sule. The latter had reportedly left the meeting halfway.
Pawar had recently indicated his desire to step down from the Leader of the Opposition role. “Assign me any post in the party organisation and I will do complete justice to whatever responsibility given to me,” he had said on Wednesday.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Business NewsPoliticsNewsAjit Pawar joins Shinde-Fadnavis Govt: From Chagan Bhujbal to Dilip Walse Patel - These NCP leaders ’defected’ with him
First Published:2 Jul 2023, 03:49 PM IST
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