Mumbai: Supriya Sule, NCP Working President, urged party legislators and workers to attend the meeting called by Sharad Pawar today. The clarion call comes as the rival faction, headed by Ajit Pawar, has also announced a meet today of all party MLAs.
"It is a humble request that you all attend this meeting in large numbers. In the current situation, the 83-year-old young warrior i.e. our respected Pawar Saheb is going to guide all office bearers and workers tomorrow to give further direction to our Nationalist Congress Party," Ms Sule said in a video.
The meeting comes just days after Ms Sule's cousin Ajit Pawar quit as the leader of the opposition and joined the BJP-Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra. He now shares the Deputy Chief Minister post with BJP's Devendra Fadnavis.
A day after rebellion, Sharad Pawar sacked party's working president Praful Patel and general secretary and treasurer Sunil Tatkare, who have sided with Ajit Pawar in his revolt, for engaging in "anti-party" activities.
The Ajit Pawar camp quickly hit back by removing state NCP president Jayant Patil and making new appointments.
With both factions claiming to have the support of majority NCP legislators, today's meets will shed light on which side actually has the numbers.
Sharad Pawar's NCP has submitted a petition to the Speaker of Maharashtra assembly, Rahul Narvekar, seeking the disqualification of Ajit Pawar and his eight loyalists. The party has also written to the Election Commission of India (EC) conveying that Sharad Pawar, who founded the NCP in 1999, continues to head the party and that there is no change in the leadership.