Ajit Pawar on Sunday pulled off a stunning revolt in the Nationalist Congress Party triggering a vertical split and joined hands with the ruling Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance in Maharashtra to become the deputy chief minister, a move that could undermine party supremo Sharad Pawar and dent efforts for Opposition unity ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. 

In a sudden turn of events that capped weeks of speculation over the senior NCP leader's next political move and came as a shocker to his uncle Sharad Pawar, Ajit Pawar was sworn in as the deputy chief minister by Governor Ramesh Bais at a ceremony held in the Raj Bhawan in Mumbai. Eight other NCP leaders, some of whom are close aides of Sharad Pawar, took oath as ministers in the Shinde-Fadnavis government.