Maharashtra politics: And they do it again! This time in daylight

On a morning in 2019 Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis took oath with an ambition of running a joint government Lacking the support of NCP boss Sharad Pawar they quit their posts within three days but never gave up on their dream On Sunday Pawarrsquos estranged nephew jumped ship once again along with eight NCP MLAs who were all quickly inducted into the Shinde SenaBJP governmentThe Nationalist Congress Party NCP becomes the second party in the state that the BJP has managed to split in less than a year The Bharatiya Janata Party BJP had struck in June 2022 first splitting the Shiv Sena led by the then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray by welcoming Eknath Shinde and 40 MLAs This collapsed the coalition government of the Shiv Sena the NCP and the Congress Thackeray had to quit and Shinde was made the CM and Devendra Fadnavis became his deputyThis time around political stalwart Sharad Pawarrsquos estranged nephew succeeded in his second effort of forging a pact with the BJP Ajitrsquos swearingin on a winter morning of 2019 had failed because of lack of support from Sharad Pawar who recently said that he had backed out deliberately to expose the BJPrsquos hunger for powerAjit Pawar and eight NCP MLAs joined the Shinde SenaBJP government on Sunday PicShadab KhanThe afternoon of this monsoon was different in a sense that Ajit managed to have eight MLAs take oath with him Back in 2019 only he and Fadnavis had been sworn in and the duo couldnrsquot expand the cabinet or realise their dream of running a joint government They resigned within three days but none of them never really abandoned that dream When it was said that Ajit would leave the MVA the BJP worked secretly on Shinde and got him to defect first Ajit and company made it a tripartite arrangement on SundaySpeculation about this departure was rife for some months Ajitrsquos disenchantment was visible when his uncle had recently resigned as the NCPrsquos national chief to stall a possible crack in the party Recently Ajit had demanded a position in the party organisation after his cousin Supriya Sule was given the NCPrsquos second command along with Praful Patel who ended up supporting Ajitrsquos rebellion The BJP leadership the high command in New Delhi and deputy CM Fadnavis kept tapping the nephewrsquos sentiments that were shared by a large group of NCP legislators especially those who had been longing to be with the BJP ever since the failed coup in 2019On Sunday Ajit Pawar Chhagan Bhujbal Dilip WalsePatil Hasan Mushrif Dhananjay Munde Dharmarao Baba Atram Aditi Tatkare Sanjay Bansode and Anil Patil were administered the oath of office by Governor Ramesh Bais Ajit did not confirm the number of MLAs supporting him but said that a ldquomajority of themrdquo was with him and some of them would join the council of ministers in the near futurelsquoWersquore the NCPrsquoAjit denied that the party has split ldquoI have joined the ShindeFadnavis government as a member of the NCP Majority prevails in democracy and the party We were talking about it with MLAs and MPs for many days and we felt that we should give development the top priority Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been leading the country and we want to support himrdquo he told the media persons after taking oath as the deputy CMFlanked by NCPrsquos national working president Praful Patel and cabinet colleague Chhagan Bhujbal he said there was nothing wrong in joining hands with the BJP if the party had allied with the Shiv Sena in 2019 He said even in Nagaland the NCP formed an alliance with the BJPHe resolved that ldquohis NCPrdquo would fight the next Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections with the BJP and other allies ldquoWe will fight all elections on NCPrsquos official symbol of the clockrdquo he said making it appear like he was replicating the Shinde versus Thackeray battle that continues in the legislature the Supreme Court and in the streets even now However Ajit and his ilk did not spew venom against their lsquoformerrsquo leaderslsquoPM ED scare workedrsquoInstead of being stressed Sharad Pawar appeared calm about his nephewrsquos rebellion He exuded confidence in rebuilding the party throwing a challenge at the lsquoquittersrsquo to survive the wrath of the publicHe said the antiparty action was fallout of PM Modirsquos recent statement about the corrupt NCP netas ldquoThe PMrsquos statement discomfited them They must have thought that the ED Enforcement Directorate cases would increase against them The credit for this action goes solely to the PMrdquo he said Later in the day in a veiled caution Sharad Pawar said that in the next two to three days the people would know the exact number of MLAs that continue to stick with Ajit In 2019 the NCP boss had managed to convince all proAjit MLAs to returnHowever he has asked the lsquounwillingrsquo MLAs who have supposedly sided with him this time to pledge their loyalty to the original NCP not by talking to him over the phone but by declaring their stand publically He said that action will be taken against the MLAs for antiparty activities He marked Praful Patel national working president and Sunil Tatkare national general secretary in particular ldquoAs the national president I appointed them recently Such an act was not expected from them They should quit voluntarily or else I will have to use my discretionrdquo Sharad Pawar saidlsquoWonrsquot go to courtrsquoUnlike the Sena factions led by Thackeray and Shinde the Sharad Pawarled NCP will not move the court against the rebels ldquoWe will go to the people I have strong faith in the people of Maharashtra especially the youth I will start rebuilding the party from tomorrow itselfrdquo he said adding that such rebellions were not unfamiliar to him ldquoI have seen it and even faced it In fact such crises make me more enthusiastic I go out with a renewed vigourrdquo he saidPawarrsquos trusted aide Jitendra Awhad replaced Ajit as the leader of Opposition in the Assembly He was also made chief whip with immediate effect ldquoMy whip will be applicable and mandatory for them to act on rebelsrdquo said Awhad ahead of the state legislaturersquos monsoon session that is slated to begin on July 178No of NCP MLAs who took oath with Ajit Pawar