Ajit Pawar, the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, along with all Nationalist Congress Party ministers paid an unexpected visit to the party president Sharad Pawar on Sunday, July 16, a day before the start of the monsoon session of the Maharashtra Assembly. Ajit had recently rebelled against his uncle and the patriarch of the party to join the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party government in Maharashtra.
Ajit Pawar was joined by party veterans like Praful Patel, Chhagan Bhujbal, Hasan Mashrif and Aditi Tatkare at the Yashwantrao Chavan Centre to meet the senior Pawar.
Mumbai | Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar along with Praful Patel, Chhagan Bhujbal and Dilip Walse Patil at Mumbai's YB Chavan Centre pic.twitter.com/SbyrWOHpe9
— ANI (@ANI) July 16, 2023
Following the meeting, senior party leader Praful Patel remarked, “We have all arrived at the Yashwantrao Chavan Centre to meet with our revered leader Sharad Pawar. We learned that he was present here while we were at Ajit Pawar’s residence. All of our ministers and leaders, including the respected Ajit Pawar, Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse Patil and Dhananjay Munde among others are in attendance at this time.”
Patel further added, “We came here without letting him know. We greeted him and asked for his blessings. We requested that our party should stay united and work together in the future. We urged him to think about the same. He listened to us but didn’t respond to our submission.”
Ajit Pawar, Chhagan Bhujbal, as well as other rebel NCP leaders, however, didn’t talk to the media.
#WATCH | We all came here to seek the blessings of respected Sharad Pawar today. We requested Pawar sahib that NCP should stay united. On this, Sharad Pawar did not give any reaction: Praful Patel, Ajit Pawar faction leader, at Mumbai's YB Chavan Centre pic.twitter.com/lvgXV2AZdy
— ANI (@ANI) July 16, 2023
NCP-Sharad Pawar faction leader Jayant Patil also reached the centre and stated, “I got a call from Supriya Sule who asked me to reach YB Chavan centre soon. I do not know why Ajit Pawar and other MLAs have come here.”
In a startling political move, Ajit Pawar and eight other prominent leaders including Praful Patel and Chhagan Bhujbal 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.
