Maharashtra’s recently inaugurated Deputy Chief Minister, Ajit Pawar, is scheduled to officially open the new office of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) at the A5 bungalow located opposite the Mantralaya in Mumbai. This move will intensify his conflict with his uncle and NCP president, Sharad Pawar.
Since his swearing-in on Sunday, Ajit Pawar has asserted that the NCP has united as a party within the Maharashtra government, emphasizing that he does not represent any particular faction. In furtherance of this stance, Ajit’s faction has taken measures to remove Jayant Patil, a staunch supporter of Sharad Pawar, from his position as the party’s state unit chief.
In Patil’s place, Sunil Tatkare, the representative for the Raigad Lok Sabha constituency, has been appointed as the new state unit chief.
The Ajit camp has decided to establish its office near the Mantralaya, as Sharad Pawar’s NCP controls the party headquarters in the Ballard Estate area. This strategic move demonstrates Ajit Pawar’s firm determination to assert his claim over the party and suggests that he and his supporters show no signs of retracting from their position.
This development mirrors the actions of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who had orchestrated a rebellion within the Shiv Sena and subsequently separated himself from Uddhav Thackeray, asserting that his version of the Shiv Sena was the original. Following suit, Shinde established a party office in a government bungalow opposite the
Mantralaya. While it remains uncertain how many NCP MLAs align with either faction, all attention is focused on the meeting scheduled by Ajit Pawar on July 5, where he plans to convene with all legislators and party members.
In the interim, the Congress has scheduled a meeting of its legislators on Tuesday to deliberate on future strategies. During this gathering, the party intends to assert its candidacy for the position of Leader of Opposition (LoP) within the Legislative Assembly. Notably, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) designated Jitendra Awhad to assume the LoP mentioned above role on Sunday.
