A day after he was sacked as the NCP legislature party chief for joining hands with the BJP, newly sworn-in Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said that he remains in the NCP and “shall always remain in the NCP”.
Ajit Pawar was replaced by party state president Jayant Patil.
The deputy chief minister took to Twitter to post the message and added that party supremo and his uncle Sharad Pawar is their leader.
The senior Pawar had earlier said that Ait Pawar's decision to support the BJP in Maharashtra was his personal decision and that the NCP does not support or endorse his decision.
However, a tweet by BJP leader and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi had given rise to speculation that Sharad Pawar himself had okayed what would effectively be a coalition between the BJP and the NCP. In a congratulatory tweet to Fadnavis, Sushil Kumar Modi tweeted, "... Sharad Pawar like Nitish Kumar knew that BJP is more reliable then Congress. Shiv Sena was like RJD. Very difficult to work with party like SS or RJD full of lumpens."
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Congress leader and eminent lawyer Abhishek Singhvi also made a cryptic tweet about the hurried swearing-in in Mumbai, sarcastically praising "Pawarji" as "great". Singhvi tweeted, "Surreal wht I read abt #Maharashtra. Thought it was fake news. Candidly &personally speaking, our tripartite negotiations shd not have gone on for more than 3 days...took too long. Window given was grabbed by fast movers. #pawarji tussi grt ho! Amazing if true, still not sure"
Also, news agency ANI quoted sources as saying, "NCP Chief Sharad Pawar was part of discussions for Devendra Fadnavis led Maharashtra Govt formation, he had given his assent to Ajit Pawar." ANI added, "Ajit Pawar is the leader of Parliamentary board of NCP and no decision of NCP is taken without Sharad Pawar’s assent."
ALSO READ: Split in NCP confirmed: Ajit Pawar a traitor, says Supriya Sule
In a series of tweets after thanking BJP leaders for their congratulatory messages, Ajit Pawar also said the "BJP- NCP alliance" will provide a stable government in Maharashtra for the next five years.
"There is absolutely no need to worry, all is well. However a little patience is required. Thank you very much for all your support," he tweeted.
In a stunning turn of events in Maharashtra, BJP's Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday returned as chief minister propped up by Ajit Pawar, who was made his deputy, just hours after the new alliance of Shiv Sena, the NCP and the Congress reached a consensus that Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will be their chief ministerial candidate.
The Shiv Sena approached the Supreme Court against the "arbitrary and malafide actions/decisions" of Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari of swearing in Fadnavis.
The apex court on Sunday issued notices to the the Centre and Maharashtra government on the petition. A bench of justices N.V. Ramana, Ashok Bhushan and Sanjiv Khanna also issued notices to Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar.
The apex court has asked the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to produce the letter by the Governor Koshyari inviting the BJP to form the government and the letter of support by Fadnavis. The court also said that it will pass the final order at 10.30am on Monday. It will also take a call on timing of the floor test.
Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar were sworn in by Koshyari at 8am at a hush-hush ceremony on Saturday after dramatic midnight developments, leading to the lifting of the President's rule in Maharashtra at 5.47am.