Maharashtra Drama: Nephew Ajit’s Revolt Catches Sharad Pawar Off-Guard

Mumbai: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar had no clue of nephew Ajit Pawar’s revolt which saw him being sworn in as the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra on Sunday.

Ajit, the leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Maharashtra Assembly, called a meeting of NCP legislators at his residence. He then went to meet Governor Ramesh Bais at Raj Bhavan, where chief minister Eknath Shinde also joined.

Pawar, who was in Pune, disowned Ajit and his rebellion.

The 83-year-old politician said the party did not endorse Ajit’s action and that it was his individual decision.

Ajit claimed he has the support of all NCP legislators, without naming Pawar and Supriya Sule.

“This includes everyone… you wait and see. We are the NCP. We will fight elections with the NCP symbol. We will run the NCP efficiently, strengthen it further… There is no reason to worry,” Ajit said.

Nine NCP leaders, including Chhagan Bhujbal, Dhananjay Munde, Dilip Walse Patil, took oath as ministers along with Ajit.

Pawar said what happened today might be surprising for many, but not to him as he faced a similar situation in 1980 when all leaders of the party he was leading left and he resurrected the party.

There were reports that Ajit was disappointed after being denied the opportunity to work as state unit chief of the NCP. He had said recently that he was not keen on continuing as the LoP and wanted to work in the party organisation.

After the BJP and Shiv Sena split in November 2019, Devendra Fadnavis took oath as Maharashtra CM with Ajit as his deputy. That government lasted all of 80 hours as Ajit was unable to cause a split in his party.

Later, Uddhav Thackeray was sworn in as CM as his party joined hands with NCP and Congress to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. Ajit was sworn in as deputy CM in this government as well.

The MVA government fell in June 2022 following an Eknath Shinde-led rebellion. Shinde was sworn in as chief minister, with the support of the BJP as Fadnavis was made deputy CM.

A year after the MVA government fell in Maharashtra, the NCP is now staring at a split with Ajit Pawar’s rebellion.

Ajit may also have been piqued when Pawar decided to resign in May, but the former’s name was not considered to fill his shoes. Instead, Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule was considered the top option.

The appointment of Sule as national working president of NCP again raised concerns about Ajit’s position in the party.