In the latest in Maharashtra’ power-play, Ajit Pawar has now been removed as NCP Legislative Party leader by the party after he allegedly turned ‘rogue’.
#Breaking | FIRST CONFIRMATION ON TIMES NOW.@AjitPawarSpeaks removed as CLP leader. | #MahaBJPCoup pic.twitter.com/8i0x9WdU7H
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) November 23, 2019
The political coup in Maharastra has taken a surprising turn. The President’s Rule in Maharashtra was removed early morning at 5:47 AM on Saturday and by around 8 AM, Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar were sworn in. After Ajit Pawar, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader took oath as Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s deputy in the stunning twist this morning, NCP was left shellshocked.
After accusing Ajit Pawar of back-stabbing, and ‘betraying trust’, the party has now removed him as NCP Legislative Party leader after he takes an oath with BJP in Maharashtra. The action shortly after NCP chief Sharad Pawar indicated that his nephew Ajit Pawar had gone rogue and said that he had taken a “personal decision” not supported by the party. The Party chief had also intimated that ‘action against Ajit Pawar will be taken as per the procedure’.
NCP Chief Sharad Pawar: Action against Ajit Pawar will be taken as per the procedure. #Maharashtra pic.twitter.com/kSJ1OIhjSu
— ANI (@ANI) November 23, 2019
The overnight coup came as a big shock to the trio (NCP-Congress-Shiv Sena) who had declared the previous night, that the three parties were close to deciding on a Common Minimum Program. Soon after the shocker, Sharad Pawar had tweeted that NCP is placing on record that the party does not endorse Ajit Pawar’s decision to form an alliance with BJP.
Interestingly, 3 days ago, some reports had emerged that Ajit Pawar might be ready to split from NCP with 35 MLAs.
While this development has unsettled many in the opposition, Shiv Sena, which was certain until the morning that they have bagged Maharashtra CM’s post, has especially been swept off their feet.
Almost immediately, the party’s motormouth Sanjay Raut spoke to the press and cursed Ajit Pawar on his decision. After calling him a thief, and backstabber, he added that Ajit Pawar has betrayed everyone and ‘Woh zindagi bhar tadapte rahenge’ (he will have lifelong suffering).
Now, Raut has given a statement that there is a possibility of Ajit Pawar maybe ‘coming back’ as he has been ‘blackmailed’. Raut also claims that out of the 8 MLAs who had gone with Ajit Pawar, 5 have come back. He says that these MLAs were “lied to, put in a car, and sort of kidnapped.” He challenged that the truth would be soon exposed in Shiv Sena’ editorial, Saamana.
NCP leader Nawab Malik has even claimed that the ‘signatures’ Pawar had submitted to the governor for showing support were actually the signatures taken earlier to mark the MLAs’ attendance.
