Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde held a meeting with his deputy Devendra Fadnavis late on Thursday night to discuss the expansion of his Cabinet expansion following the induction of leaders from the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party faction, reported NDTV.
The meeting took place amid reports of some Shiv Sena leaders being wary about Pawar’s faction joining the government. The Shiv Sena, however, has refuted the claims and Shinde has said that he will not step down from the top post.
“We are not resignation givers but takers,” Shiv Sena leader Uday Samant said. “His [Shinde’s] leadership is to take everyone along and be patient. Yesterday, all the MLAs, MPs reposed faith in Eknath Shinde...All this [reports of discontent] is being done to malign Eknath Shinde.”
The developments in Maharashtra come amid a crisis in the Nationalist Congress Party that has after Ajit Pawar, along with eight other MLAs, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra on July 2. Ajit Pawar took oath as the deputy chief minister for the third time in less than four years.
Eight other Nationalist Congress Party MLAs – Dharmobaba Atram, Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse Patil, Hasan Mushrif, Dhananjay Munde, Aditi Tatkare, Anil Patil, Sanjay Bhansode – were inducted as ministers in the Shiv Sena-BJP government.
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Two days before the rebellion, Ajit Pawar had removed his uncle Sharad Pawar from the post of Nationalist Congress Party president and approached the Election Commission staking claim to the party name as well as symbol. Ajit Pawar had also claimed to the poll panel that he had been elected president of the Nationalist Congress Party on June 30.
On Friday, Sharad Pawar also wrote to the poll panel, asking why he was not informed about his nephew staking claim to the party symbol, reported NDTV. He said that the commission should have informed him about his nephew’s petition in view of the caveat he has filed seeking disqualification of Ajit Pawar and the eight other ministers.
On Thursday, Sharad Pawar had asserted that he was still the chief of the Nationalist Congress Party. “Whether I am 82 or 92, I shall continue to do my work,” Pawar said during a press conference. He refuted his nephew’s claim of being the real NCP chief saying: “Anyone can say anything. There is no truth in this.”
Sharad Pawar has also expelled party leaders Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare and SR Kohli for backing Ajit Pawar. The decision was taken at the National Executive meeting called by Sharad Pawar in Delhi today.
The Ajit Pawar camp, however, has claimed that the meeting called by Sharad Pawar has no legal sanctity. “The dispute on the question of who represents the real NCP is within the exclusive jurisdiction of the ECI and therefore no person within the Party has any authority to call for any meeting,” the faction said in a statement.
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