Ajit Pawar took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra today.
Ajit Pawar, the nephew of Sharad Pawar, took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra on Sunday, for the third time since 2019. He sided with the BJP once again, weeks after his cousin Supriya Sule was announced the working president of the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
He said a majority of NCP MLAs, and the entire party, has decided to be in the alliance government of the BJP and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. According to sources in the Maharashtra political circle, he has the support of 40-plus MLAs.
Ajit Pawar was said to be upset over former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray being projected as the face of Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition.
With the latest developments, this becomes the third time Ajit Pawar has become the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra in the last four years, under three different chief ministers.
Recap of 2019
In the 2019 Maharashtra assembly elections, BJP emerged victorious in 105 seats. On the other hand, Shiv Sena (before its split), which was in an alliance with the BJP, bagged 56 seats. Despite having enough seats to form a government, the two allies squabbled over power-sharing which led to Shiv Sena negotiating with the Congress and NCP.
As there was no outcome, the Centre imposed President's Rule in the state on November 12 while Shiv Sena continued its negotiations with Congress and NCP to form an alliance. Later, Sharad Pawar announced that Uddhav Thackeray has been unanimously chosen to head the new government.
However, in a surprise move, the then Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari swore in BJP's Devendra Fadnavis as the Chief Minister and Ajit Pawar as his deputy on November 23. But the government lasted for only three days.
On November 28, Uddhav Thackeray was sworn in as the Chief Minister of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. Ajit Pawar, once again took the oath as the Deputy Chief Minister.
Major Blow To MVA
The MVA government led by Uddhav Thackeray was in power for two years and seven months before Eknath Shinde and 39 MLAs rebelled against the Shiv Sena leadership - which caused the party's split.
Ahead of the trust vote, Uddhav Thackeray resigned as the chief minister, which led to the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
Later, Mr Shinde joined hands with the BJP to form the government in Maharashtra. On June 30 last year, Mr Shinde was sworn in as the Chief Minister and Mr Fadnavis took an oath as his deputy.
In another turn of events, Ajit Pawar was once again sworn in as the second Deputy Chief Minister - for the third time - in the Eknath Shinde-led government.
Ajit Pawar was born on July 22, 1959 at Deolali Pravara in Rahuri taluka of Ahmednagar district. He is the son of Sharad Pawar's elder brother, Anantrao Pawar, who worked in the film industry with renowned filmmaker V Shantaram and his Rajkamal Studios in Mumbai.