CM Eknath Shinde welcomes Ajit Pawar to the fold; another setback for MVA

A year after Shiv Sena split as Eknath Shinde switched camps with 40 party MLAs, it is now the turn of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to face an existential crisis. 

The political coup that unfolded on Sunday saw Leader of Opposition (LOP) Ajit Pawar walking out with nine MLAs to join the NDA Government. The move comes as a huge jolt to the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), a coalition of Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP, and Congress, ahead of the Assembly elections. 

The fight for the legacy of the NCP has already begun with Ajit Pawar claiming his faction is the real NCP. According to the BJP, Ajit Pawar has the support of over 40 MLAs.  

Rankled by the move, NCP spokesperson Mahesh Tapase on Sunday said the oath taken by nine NCP MLAs as ministers in the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government does not have the official support of the party. In a video, Tapase said CP's party workers, district president, taluka president, youth and women are with the party's national leader Sharad Pawar. 

"The oath-taking ceremony in Maharashtra was part of Operation Lotus and it has no official support of NCP. Those who took oath, it is their personal decision and not that of the NCP," he said.  

However, Eknath Shinde, who objected to Ajit Pawar's entry into the NDA last year, has welcomed him to the government this time. "Now we have one Chief Minister and two Deputy Chief Ministers. The double-engine government has now become triple engine. For the development of Maharashtra, I welcome Ajit Pawar and his leaders. Ajit Pawar's experience will help strengthen Maharashtra," Shinde told reporters while leaving Raj Bhawan.

This comes as the MVA has been working out a seat-sharing formula ahead of the Lok Sabha and the Maharashtra assembly elections, due in the second half of the next year.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut who earlier claimed that Sharad Pawar was undeterred about the move said the party already knew this was going to happen. "Eknath Shinde and the 16 MLAs that went with him will be disqualified. Maharashtra will get another CM in a few days," he said.

Third swearing-in

The swearing-in of Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar and several of his colleagues as deputy chief minister and ministers, respectively, on Saturday has meant Maharashtra has seen four oath-taking ceremonies in as many years at its stately Raj Bhavan.

In November 2019, after the Assembly polls and the split between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena, Devendra Fadnavis and NCP's Ajit Pawar were sworn in as CM and Deputy CM, respectively, in an early morning ceremony in Raj Bhavan.

The government lasted just 80 hours as Pawar was unable to cause a split in his party.

Within a month, Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray was sworn in as CM after his party joined hands with the NCP and Congress to form the Maha Vikas Agahdi government. Incidentally, Ajit Pawar, who had returned to the NCP, was the deputy CM in this government.

The MVA government fell in June last year after minister Eknath Shinde and 39 MLAs revolted against Thackeray and split the Shiv Sena.

Shinde was sworn in as CM on June 30 with the support of the BJP. This time, Fadnavis was made deputy CM. 

(With inputs from PTI)