Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule, who is the daughter of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, virtually confirmed that there was a split in the party on Saturday, hours after her cousin, Ajit Pawar, was sworn in as deputy chief minister of Maharashtra in a BJP-led government.
Earlier in the day, Sharad Pawar had announced that the NCP did not "endorse the decision" of Ajit Pawar to join hands with the BJP.
Sule changed her WhatsApp status to "Party and family split". She later wrote on her WhatsApp status "Who do u trust in life ... never felt so cheated in my life... Defended him, loved him... look what I get in return"
Later, in an interview with The Indian Express, Sule declared Ajit Pawar "turned out to be a traitor”. She confessed "There is a split in both the family and the party." Sule revealed "Sharad Pawar is not with Ajit Pawar anymore".
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Over the past two weeks, as the Shiv Sena continued deliberations with the Congress and NCP to form a government in Maharashtra, there were reports Ajit Pawar had threatened to join hands with the BJP along with dozens of NCP MLAs. The NCP has a total of 54 MLAs in the 288-member Assembly and a coalition with the BJP, which has 105 MLAs, easily crosses the majority mark. Interestingly, BJP's Girish Mahajan, who had been a minister in the first Devendra Fadnavis government, had claimed all NCP MLAs would support the BJP.
Sharad Pawar is scheduled to hold a meeting of NCP MLAs in Mumbai at 4.30pm on Saturday. Some media reports claim the NCP had removed Ajit from the post of NCP's legislature party leader.
Some NCP MLAs had attended the swearing-in of Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar. However, NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik claimed they had been "deluded into attending" the ceremony and would be meeting Sharad Pawar later on Saturday.
Interestingly, Sule told veteran journalist Barkha Dutt that the NCP was "still assessing how many MLAs" had split. Barkha Dutt tweeted, "Just spoke to @supriya_sule who says "The family has been cheated. He (Ajit Pawar) has betrayed my father. Still assessing how many MLAs have split."
