On Thursday, 20th July 2023, Seven NCP MLAs from Nagaland extended support to Ajit Pawar. All the seven MLAs and other office-bearers of NCP in Nagaland will support Ajit Pawar.
Nagaland NCP state president Vanthungo Odyuo met Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare in Maharashtra. The decision was later announced. While Sharad Pawar is facing the challenge of rebuilding the party as Ajit Pawar defected and joined the NDA government in Maharashtra with 40 other NCP MLAs and key leaders from the organization.
Sharad Pawar has suffered another major setback as all the seven MLAs from Nagaland joined the Ajit Pawar group.
Nagaland NCP state president Vanthungo Odyuo said that the NCP MLAs from Nagaland have given a letter of support to senior NCP leader Praful Patel. Nagaland Nationalist Congress Party’s Brijmohan Srivastava issued a statement following the decision.
The statement said, “Nationalist Congress Party Nagaland has decided that all MLAs and office bearers here will support the party’s national president Ajit Pawar. We will work under the leadership of NCP national president Ajit Pawar and working president Praful Patel.”
This decision taken by seven Nagaland MLAs is considered to be a big setback for Sharad Pawar.
Ajit Pawar held a press conference soon after becoming deputy chief minister on 2nd July 2023. Even then, he staked claim to the party and the symbol. He had also mentioned Nagaland in his press conference at that time. He cited the example of the NCP forming an alliance with the BJP in Nagaland.
In a startling political move, Ajit Pawar and eight other prominent leaders including Praful Patel and Chhagan Bhujbal, and Dhananjay Munde joined the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government on July 2 which resulted in a major split in the NCP. Ajit Pawar was appointed deputy chief minister while the others were sworn in as ministers in a ceremony conducted at the Raj Bhavan.