The political turmoil in Maharashtra is becoming more and more interesting with every passing day. On Monday, July 3, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar sacked senior leader Praful Patel as the party’s working president and ordered the removal of his name from the NCP member register. Another senior ‘rebel’ MLA Sunil Tatkare was also removed from the party for anti-party activities. Minutes later, the Ajit Pawar faction announced Sunil Tatkare as Maharashtra NCP president.
Earlier this evening, the NCP chief took to Twitter to declare, “I, as the National President, Nationalist Congress Party hereby order removal of the names of Shri Sunil Tatkare and Shri Praful Patel from the Register of Members of NCP Party for anti-party activities. @praful_patel @SunilTatkare.”
I, as the National President, Nationalist Congress Party hereby order removal of the names of Shri Sunil Tatkare and Shri Praful Patel from the Register of Members of NCP Party for anti-party activities.@praful_patel @SunilTatkare
— Sharad Pawar (@PawarSpeaks) July 3, 2023
Moments after Sharad Pawar’s tweet, NCP’s senior leader and Rajya Sabha MP Praful Patel announced that his faction had appointed Sunil Tatkare as the new party president for Maharashtra. He also said that Ajit Pawar was elected as the Leader of NCP in the Assembly. Sunil Tatkare will have the authority to make organisational changes in the party, Patel said during a press conference. Sunil Tatkare’s daughter Aditi Tatkare was among the NCP leaders who took oath as ministers on Sunday.
VIDEO | "Sunil Tatkare will be the NCP president for Maharashtra state," says senior party leader and MP Praful Patel. pic.twitter.com/3XDRwdEoK1
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) July 3, 2023
Sunil Tatkare said he has taken over as the State president of the Nationalist Congress Party. “I will strengthen the party in Maharashtra. I have taken into confidence all leaders of the party. I have also called a meeting of all the legislators and zila parishad leaders,” he said.
Notably, Sharad Pawar’s announcement came less than a day after 30 NCP MLAs led by Sharad Pawar’s nephew Ajit Pawar revolted and joined the BJP-Shiv Sena (Shinde) government in the state.
In fact, Nationalist Congress Party working President Supriya Sule on Monday also wrote to the party supremo Sharad Pawar seeking the disqualification of Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare for allegedly indulging in anti-party activities.
“They have indulged in anti-party activities…openly made statements to this effect before the media and have acted in complete violation of the Party’s direction and principles. You may further be informed that this decision of the two MPs to support the nine MLAs has been taken without the permission of the Party President and without taking all members of the party into confidence,” Sule wrote to Sharad Pawar.
Mr.Sunil Tatkare and Mr. Praful Patel on 2nd July 2023 acted in direct contravention of the Party Constitution and Rules, amounting to desertion and disqualification from the party membership.
— Supriya Sule (@supriya_sule) July 3, 2023
I request Hon. @PawarSpeaks Saheb to take immediate action and file disqualification… pic.twitter.com/Uj2iG6C6kz
CM Eknath Shinde welcomes Ajit Pawar faction of NCP in his government
The political upheaval in Maharashtra erupted once again on Sunday, July 2, when 30 NCP MLAs led by Ajit Pawar revolted and joined the BJP-Shiv Sena (Shinde) government in the state.
8 MLAs of NCP will be sworn in as ministers, as Ajit Pawar becomes Deputy Chief Minister.
Ajit Pawar on Sunday reached Raj Bhawan with 29 NCP MLAs, including Hassan Musharraf. The Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP joined the Maharashtra government Sunday after an oath-taking ceremony at the Raj Bhawan. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis were also present at the Raj Bhawan.
After reaching the Raj Bhawan, Ajit Pawar submitted his resignation from the post of the leader of the opposition to Governor Ramesh Bais and took oath as Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
Now, the state government in Maharashtra is an alliance of three parties. The alliance partners include the Bhartiya Janta Party, the Shiv Sena faction led by CM Eknath Shinde and the NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar.
2022 Maharashtra political crisis
It may be recalled that a similar political crisis gripped Maharashtra in June last year when Eknath Shinde, along with several other MLAs of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition moved to Surat in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-governed Gujarat, throwing the Uddhav Thackeray alliance into a crisis. Eknath Shinde led a revolt against Uddhav Thackeray because he disagreed with Thackeray’s decision not to end the alliance with Maha Vikas Aaghadi, despite requests from two-thirds of elected Shiv Sena members. With the help of the BJP, Shinde’s side was finally successful in seizing control of the party and establishing a new government in Maharashtra.
On June 29 2022, ahead of a no-confidence motion, Uddhav Thackeray, the then Chief Minister of Maharashtra, announced his resignation from both positions live on social media. The floor test was cancelled as a result of Thackeray’s resignation, and on June 30 2022, Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis assumed control of the government as the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister, respectively.
