Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Rohit Pawar claimed on Monday that 18 to 19 MLAs from the faction led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar are poised to switch allegiances after the upcoming monsoon session of the state legislature.
While addressing the media, Rohit Pawar emphasized that several NCP MLAs have refrained from criticizing party founder Sharad Pawar and other senior leaders following the party’s split in July 2023. “”But they have to attend the legislature session and get development funds for their constituencies. So they will wait till the session ends (before making switch over),” stated Rohit Pawar, the grandnephew of NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar while speaking to the reporters.
The opposition confidently added, “There are 18 to 19 (NCP) MLAs who are in touch with us and Pawar saheb and they will cross over to their side after the monsoon session.”
Rohit Pawar also took the opportunity to note that several leaders including Sharad Pawar and other NCP (SP) leaders would be deciding on the reintegration of these MLAs into the party fold. The MLA from Karjat-Jamkhed in Ahmednagar district had stated this as the state prepares for the monsoon session of the legislature. The session is set to commence on June 27 and conclude on July 12 and will be the final one before the state heads into assembly elections that are scheduled for the month of October.
In the 2019 state assembly elections 54 seats were by the undivided NCP. However, the party parted ways last year, in July, with the Ajit Pawar-led faction claiming the support of approximately 40 MLAs.
Rohit Pawar also highlighted statements made by NCP Rajya Sabha MP Praful Patel, suggesting that Patel might become a minister in the next Union Cabinet expansion. “This means Praful Patel has full hold over Ajit Pawar’s party. It needs to be checked if Ajit Pawar separated (split) for development or to save Praful Patel from the ED,” Rohit Pawar queried.
In a related development, the NCP, on June 9, declined the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) offer to appoint Patel as a minister of state with independent charge in the new National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. The Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction remains an ally of the BJP and a component of the ruling NDA.
In the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) won eight seats in Maharashtra, while the Ajit Pawar-led NCP managed to secure just one seat.
