"Sit With...": NCP Leaders Get 2 Contrasting Whips For Assembly Session

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) legislators have received two contrasting set of instructions for the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly session which starts today. While Ajit Pawar has issued a whip asking the MLAs to sit with the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena alliance, NCP's chief whip Jitendra Awhad has asked the legislators to occupy the opposition benches.

Mr Awhad also requested the assembly speaker to make not seat the nine rebel MLAs and the other party legislators together.

"Except for the nine MLAs who were sworn in, the sitting arrangement for others should be made separately. The NCP is in the opposition and we want to sit in the opposition," Mr Awhad stated in a letter to Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar.

Mr Narwekar had recently said there was no clear distinction between who is in power and who is not in the case of the Nationalist Congress Party.

"There will be a lot of deliberations and arguments over how to decide who represents the actual NCP," he had said.

In a shock move earlier this month, Ajit Pawar resigned as the leader of the Opposition and hours later took oath as the Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister.

On Sunday, Ajit Pawar, after a meeting with NCP leaders loyal to him at his residence Devgiri Bungalow, headed to the YB Chavan Center to meet Sharad Pawar.

Jayant Patil, who was in the meeting with opposition parties ahead of the monsoon session, was also called to YB Chavhan by Supriya Sule.

All the nine MLAs who took the oath along with Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare were present in the meeting. Sharad Pawar, Supriya Sule, Jayant Patil, and Jitendra Awhad were also present.

This was the first meeting between Sharad Pawar and the group-led by Ajit Pawar after he rebelled against his uncle and joined the Eknath Shinde government on July 2.