Ajit Pawar-led group has no right to sack me as Maharashtra NCP president, says Jayant Patil

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

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 NCP (total 53) are with the party chief Sharad Pawar.

A day earlier, the Ajit Pawar camp appointed Sunil 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.

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Hours before Jayant Patil was replaced by the Ajit Pawar camp, NCP chief Sharad Pawar had removed the party's working president Praful Patel and general secretary Tatkare for engaging in "anti-party” activities.

The action was taken against Patel and Tatkare after they attended the swearing-in ceremony of Ajit Pawar who took oath as deputy chief minister in the Shiv Sena-BJP cabinet on Sunday, while eight NCP MLAs joined as ministers.

"The faction led by (Ajit Pawar) is a 'Notionalist' Party. They have no right to remove me from the post (of NCP state unit president)," Jayant Patil told reporters.

He also said he had taken action against the nine MLAs who have joined the government.

The Sharad Pawar-led NCP had moved a petition before Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar seeking the disqualification of Ajit Pawar and eight other MLAs.

"All MLAs are with us and you will know tomorrow," Jayant Patil claimed.

The Ajit Pawar camp in a letter submitted to Raj Bhavan had claimed that they have the support of 40 MLAs of NCP.