Ajit Pawar's plan to take on Sharad was in works for a year: Report

In a massive blow to the Maharashtra Opposition coalition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), NCP leader and Leader of the Opposition Ajit Pawar switched sides to the BJP-Shiv Sena government along with a few other MLAs from his party. Pawar took oath as the second Deputy Chief Minister (after Devendra Fadnavis) of the western state on Sunday (July 3).

The move came as a jolt to the MVA alliance ahead of the state Assembly elections next year. Currently, Pawar and eight other legislators of his party have joined the Shinde government as ministers. However, the rebel MLAs have claimed that they are not leaving the party.

Praful Patel, who was appointed NCP's working president along with Supriya Sule, attended the swearing-in ceremony of Pawar and others.

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Ajit is likley to move the Election Commission to obtain the name and symbol of the party founded by his uncle, Sharad Pawar, according to a report by the Times of India citing sources.

Ajit has reportedly also submitted to Maharashtra Governor Ramesh Bais a list of 40 MLAs from his party who are supporting him. NCP has 53 MLAs in the Maharashtra Assembly.

This is the second time Ajit has revolted against his party, the first time being in 2019 when he swore in as the deputy of Devendra Fadnavis. However, their government only lasted 80 hours.

With Ajit's rebellion, the MVA has received its second jolt, the first being the toppling of the Uddhav Thackeray government by rebels within his own party, led by now-CM Eknath Shinde.

Plan was in motion for a year

Ajit has claimed that he is being backed by "everyone" from his party, but Sharad Pawar has come out to dismiss Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare from the party ranks. Who is the real NCP now seems to be the prime question hovering over India's political spectrum. Pawar has also called this move by his party MLAs as an act of "robbery".

Ajit has reportedly been planning this rebellion for a year. He was further miffed when his uncle announced the names of Praful Patel and Supriya Sule as working presidents of the party, thus giving the 63-year-old a fresh snub.

Notably, when Sharad Pawar had announced that he would be retiring from the position of NCP president, among the party's senior leaders, it was only Ajit who had said that a new leadership of the party should be constituted.

In June, Ajit asked his uncle to relieve him from the duty of Leader of Opposition in Assembly and instead give him some responsibility within the organisation. Despite this request, Ajit was not made a co-working president alongside Sule and Patel.

Read | Ajit Pawar’s revolt shows BJP bid to end political isolation in Maharashtra

In the same speech where Ajit had voiced his desire, he also took a slight jibe at his party for not being able to form a government by itself. He even cited examples of Mamata Banerjee's TMC and AAP to show how some regional parties have been doing well despite opposition from the BJP.

The report stated that Ajit had given his party a deadline of July 1 to make him the state unit president of the party. When this was not done, he set his plan of joining the BJP-Sena government in motion.

Ajit had reportedly met a number of party leaders at his residence before the swearing-in ceremony, which also included Supriya Sule. However, agencies reported that Sule left the meeting before it was over.

Ajit has now become the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra for the fifth time.