Ajit Pawar had recently said that he doesn't want to continue as the Leader of Opposition. (file)
Sharad Pawar, the man credited with complex political manoeuvring to stitch together a big opposition alliance, faces huge embarrassment as his nephew and top Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar threatens to decimate the party he founded and has helmed through troubled waters for the last 24 years. The BJP has struck twice in the last two years, to break the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) opposition alliance in Maharashtra, as Ajit Pawar breaks away NCP MLAs just a year after Eknath Shinde walked out with 40 Shiv Sena MLAs.
Ajit Pawar, along with eight other party leaders, joined the Maharashtra government today. Mr Pawar took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister. He will share the post with BJP's Devendra Fadnavis.
Ajit Pawar, Praful Patel, who was recently appointed working president of the NCP along with Supriya Sule, and other heavyweights like Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse Patil, Hasan Mushrif, Ramraje Nimbalkar, Dhananjay Munde, Aditi Tatkare, Sanjay Bansode, Dharmrav Baba Atram, and Anil Bhaidas Patil were at the oath ceremony today.
Mr Fadnavis, the day before yesterday, had said Maharashtra cabinet expansion will happen soon.
Eknath Shinde had also met BJP leaders in Delhi recently.
Notably, Mr Shinde had in April threatened to walk out of the government if Ajit Pawar joined with a group of NCP MLAs.
"Now we have one Chief Minister and two Deputy Chief Ministers. The double-engine government has now become a triple engine. For the development of Maharashtra, I welcome Ajit Pawar and his leaders. Ajit Pawar's experience will help," Eknath Shinde said after the swearing in ceremony.
Following Sharad Pawar's daughter and top NCP leader Supriya Sule's elevation to the post of national president of the party after Sharad Pawar's shock offer to quit, Ajit Pawar had recently said that he doesn't want to continue as the Leader of Opposition in the state assembly.
The Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government wanted to break the MVA alliance, as it was a huge challenge ahead of them. Sharad Pawar was trying to unite the opposition, but couldn't keep his own flock together.
BJP sources have said Ajit Pawar claims to have the backing of over 40 of NCP's total 53 MLAs in the state assembly. Ajit Pawar needs to have more than 36 MLAs to escape provisions of the anti defection law.
NCP can still move for disqualification of all rebel MLAs under the 10th Schedule of the Constitution. According to a recent Supreme Court constitution bench judgment, the original party has to merge (under Para 16 of Symbol's order). Ajit Pawar has to move the Election Commission of India under Symbol's order and prove he is the original NCP. Till then, he and his supporter MLAs face disqualification.
Even if Ajit Pawar can prove that, as per a recent constitution bench judgment, proving to be the original party won't have retrospective effect under the 10th schedule.
For the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition, of which the NCP is a member, this was the second strike within a year. Last year, it was the Shiv Sena which faced a mutiny that resulted in the collapse of Uddhav Thackeray's government in Maharashtra.
Led by now Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and backed by the BJP, the revolt saw most Shiv Sena MLAs switching sides, saying they were unhappy with Mr Thackeray's leadership and his alliance with the ideologically opposed NCP and the Congress.
Mr Thackeray and his allies accused the BJP, which had been the former ally of Shiv Sena, of playing a crucial role in the mutiny by offering support and inducements to the rebel MLAs - a charge it has vehemently denied.
But as a result of the mutiny, the BJP formed the government with the support of the rebels and some independents, claiming to have restored stability and good governance in the state and gave Mr Shinde the Chief Minister's post.