Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Pawar convened an urgent meeting of NCP MLAs on July 2.
Split In NCP
Following this meeting, Pawar proceeded to the Raj Bhawan and took oath as Deputy Chief Minister. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde also arrived at the Raj Bhawan around the same time.
A total of nine NCP leaders, including Chhagan Bhujbal, Dhananjay Munde, Dilip Walse Patil took oath as ministers along with Pawar at a ceremony in Raj Bhavan.
Reportedly, Pawar was dissatisfied with being denied the position of the party’s state unit chief. He had expressed his willingness to step down from the role of Leader of the Opposition in order to take on an organizational responsibility within the party.
Around 30 to 40 MLAs attended a meeting at Pawar’s official residence, known as ‘Devgiri’. NCP’s state unit chief Jayant Patil, engaged in a telephonic conversation with Sharad Pawar, resulting in the cancellation of the latter’s scheduled tour.
