Amid a major development in Maharashtra's politics with NCP leader Ajit Pawar and eight other MLAs joining the Eknath Shinde-led government, State Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on Monday said that he is unaware of the exact numbers of MLAs supporting Ajit Pawar.
"The recognition of the Leader of the Opposition is done by the head of the Assembly and all rules and regulations will be considered before making any judgement. I have no idea about the number of MLAs in support of Ajit Pawar," Rahul Narwekar told the reporters.
The NCP has 53 MLAs and nine MLCs, of which nine MLAs including Ajit Pawar have joined the Eknath Shinde government.
NCP leader Ajit Pawar took oath as Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister with eight other party legislators.
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) experienced an internal division as senior leader Ajit Pawar joined the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) along with a group of MLAs.
Ajit Pawar said all MLAs are with him and they have joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government as a party.
"We have all the numbers. All MLAs are with me. We are here as a party. We have informed all seniors also. The majority is given importance in a democracy. Our party is 24 years old and young leadership should come forward," Ajit Pawar said after taking oath as Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
The Deputy CM further said that a few other ministers would be added in the next expansion.
"We took a decision to come with the Shinde-Fadanvis govt with almost all MLAs of NCP. We took the oath and a few other ministers will be added in the next expansion", Ajit Pawar said.
State Governor Ramesh Bais administered the oath to NCP Leader Ajit Pawar as Maharashtra's second Deputy Chief Minister.
The Governor also administered oaths to Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse-Patil, Hasan Mushrif, Dhananjay Munde, Dharmarao Baba Atram, Aditi Tatkare, Sanjay Bansode and Anil Patil.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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