Mumbai: Maharashtra is set to have senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar as its second deputy chief minister, ThePrint has learnt.
Pawar, who is believed to have the support of a considerable number of NCP MLAs, reached the Raj Bhawan in Mumbai Sunday afternoon.
Confirming the development, a senior leader in the Maharashtra government said nine NCP MLAs may get berths in Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Council of Ministers.
An NCP MLA told ThePrint on condition of anonymity that the party’s breakaway faction has not discussed the move with Sharad Pawar as of yet. “Ajit Pawar is our leader. We go where he goes. Pawar saheb (Sharad Pawar) is sitting in Pune,” the MLA added.
On Sunday morning, Ajit Pawar had held meetings with NCP MLAs at his residence.
At a press conference later in the day, Sharad Pawar brushed aside questions by calling it a ‘routine’ meeting, adding that he has also convened a party meeting on 6 July to discuss further strategy.
NCP patriarch Sharad Pawar has struggled to keep the flock together. Last month, he appointed his daughter and Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule, along with Rajya Sabha MP Praful Patel as the party’s working presidents. Days later, Ajit Pawar said he did not want to continue as the Leader of the Opposition in the state legislative assembly.
This was followed by Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis’s remarks last week hinting at a possible expansion of the state cabinet.
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