INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
MUMBAI: Dealing a massive blow to his political mentor and uncle Sharad Pawar, NCP's Ajit Pawar Sunday joined the Shinde-Fadnavis government
as deputy CM, inaugurating yet another chapter of the dizzying drama that has engulfed Maharashtra's politics for the past four years ever
since MVA was formed and especially since Eknath Shinde sensationally caused the collapse of the MVA regime by breaking away from the Uddhav
Thackeray camp a year ago.Read AlsoSupreme irony for Sena camp as their 'tormentor' returns to cabinetNCP leader Ajit Pawar's induction in
the Eknath Shinde-helmed state cabinet couldn't be more ironic
Shinde and the 39 MLAs, who raised a rebellion in the Shiv Sena, had last year blamed Ajit Pawar, as the then finance minister, of not
allocating funds for their constituencies
Moreover, they hadLoss of Praful Patel, his most trusted hand and crisis manager, personal blow to Sharad PawarThe switch made by Patel,
considered Sharad Pawar's most trusted ally, one who has never taken a political decision without his mentor's knowledge, is being viewed as
a personal setback for the NCP president
"I am not upset with anybody except Praful Patel and Tatkare," said Pawar.Ajit Pawar, Bhujbal among five NCP stalwarts under ED lensAt least
five prominent faces in deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar's team, which includes him, are under the scanner of ED for separate money
laundering cases that range from bank loan fraud and corruption to fraudulent land transactions and also transactions linked to late drug
smuggler IqbalAjit (63) took oath at Raj Bhavan along with eight other NCP legislators
Among them were the party's heavyweights and party founder and president Sharad Pawar's long-time aides like Dilip Walse Patil, Chhagan
Bhujbal, Dhananjay Munde and Hasan Mushrif.By Ajit's side in this second rebellion of his - after his first one in November 2019 that
fizzled out in just a couple of days - was Praful Patel, one of Pawar Senior's oldest and closest associates who was recently anointed as
NCP working president along with Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule.Ajit submitted a list of 40 supporting NCP MLAs to governor Ramesh Bais
NCP has 54 MLAs in all in the assembly
followed the Eknath Shinde pattern, claiming he represents NCP and has the support of "everyone" from the party, though his uncle, Sharad
Pawar, termed his act as "robbery" instead of rebellion and vowed to fight back
Ajit's disaffection at being sidelined in the party had not been a secret, but things came to a head in the past couple of months with
Sharad Pawar first tendering his surprise resignation as party president in the first week of May, apparently to quell the intra-party
rebellion that was brewing with Ajit at its helm, and later, after withdrawing his resignation, making Sule the working president and thus
handing out a fresh snub to Ajit
Ajit had been drafting a strategy to take on his uncle and cousin Supriya for a year, sources said
In fact, when Sharad Pawar announced his resignation at the Y B Chavan Centre in Mumbai, Ajit was the only NCP leader to state
unequivocally, at a time other party leaders were imploring Sharad Pawar not to quit, that the resignation should be accepted to pave the
Last month, on the occasion of the party's anniversary, Ajit asked Sharad Pawar to relieve him of the post of leader of opposition in the
assembly and to give him an organisational task instead
In the same speech, he launched an oblique attack against the NCP's leadership over the party's failure to form a government on its own in
Ajit had then pointed out that politicians who had emerged in the past two decades had made tremendous political progress while NCP had
He cited the examples of Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Telangana CM K Chandrashekhar Rao and Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan
Mohan Reddy to underline his point, saying that Mamata had retained power though PM Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah had
campaigned against her and Kejriwal had won a second successive term despite being a relatively new entrant in politics
Further, targeting Jayant Patil who has held the post of NCP's state unit president for over five years, he had said, "We have a tall leader
like Sharad Pawar, but despite that we were not able to form government
It calls for self-introspection and corrective steps
It is high time the entire organisation is revamped as top priority."03:58Explained: First Shiv Sena, now NCP, here is how BJP turned the
tables on MVA in Maharashtra According to reports, Ajit had set July 1 as the deadline for his own appointment as state NCP president, and
when Sharad Pawar failed to sack Jayant Patil, he implemented his plan drafted a month ago to join the Shinde-Fadnavis government
Apart from Ajit, Bhujbal, Walse Patil and Mushrif, the other NCP legislators sworn in on Sunday were Dhananjay Munde, Aditi Tatkare,
Dharmarao Atram, Anil Patil and Sanjay Bansode.06:07Ajit Pawar claims support of 'almost all NCP MLAs', lauds Modi govt as he joins state
govt Deputy speaker of the assembly Narhari Zirwal and NCP MP Amol Kolhe were among the party functionaries present at Raj Bhavan for the
Before the oath-taking function, agencies reported, Ajit Pawar met some party leaders and MLAs at his official residence 'Devgiri' in Mumbai
Bhujbal and the party's working president Supriya Sule were among the leaders present at that meeting
However, Sule left the meeting early, agencies reported.03:17NCP supporters smear black ink on posters of leaders who joined Eknath Shinde
Govt The new political temblor in the state came just days after Shinde on June 30 completed a year in office as CM in the Shiv Sena-BJP
government, with Devendra Fadnavis as his deputy
The state now has two deputy CMs
Shinde described his government as a "triple engine" one now with Ajit's NCP too on board
Elections to the 288-member Maharashtra assembly are due next year.06:54Not 'googly', it is a robbery, Sharad Pawar on Ajit Pawar joining
NDA After the 2019 Maharashtra assembly polls, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena had snapped ties with long-term ally BJP
Before the MVA government comprising Sena, NCP and Congress could be formed, Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar were sworn in as chief minister and
deputy CM respectively in a hush-hush early-morning ceremony, but their government lasted only 80 hours
With Sunday's swearing-in, Ajit Pawar has become deputy CM for the fifth time in his political career, this time obviously with the
expectation that the 2019 stumble is well and truly behind him.03:05Devendra Fadnavis' 2014 'Chakki Peesing - Peesing' remark on Ajit Pawar
goes viral againCongress, NCP to hold meets on July 4 and 5NCP president Sharad Pawar has called a meeting of NCP legislators and office
bearers on July 5, while Congress legislature party leader Balasaheb Thorat has called a meeting of Congress legislators on July 4 to take
stock of current political situation
leader Ajit Pawar joins Shinde govt; takes oath as Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister
