Sharad Pawar Faces Another Setback as 7 NCP MLAs from Nagaland Join Ajit's Faction

In another setback to NCP supremo Sharad Pawar on Thursday, all the office bearers, including 7 MLAs of NCP from Nagaland, joined hands with his nephew and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s faction.

Earlier this month, Ajit Pawar and eight other Nationalist Congress Party MLAs joined the Shinde government, effectively causing a division within the party established by Sharad Pawar.

Amid the ongoing tussle, Ajit Pawar and leaders of his camp paid a surprise visit to Sharad Pawar to seek his guidance to keep the party united in the future on Sunday.

Besides Ajit Pawar, senior leaders Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare, and Narhari Zirwal, as well as recently sworn-in ministers Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse-Patil and Dhananjay Munde, among others, called upon the 82-year-old NCP patriarch at Mumbai’s YB Chavan Centre.

“We sought his blessings and asked for his guidance to keep the party united, but he did not say anything,” Praful Patel told the media immediately after the meeting.

“We didn’t have any idea that this would happen. All nine ministers and Prafulbhai were in a meeting at Devgiri (Ajit Pawar’s bungalow). They suddenly got up and left in three cars, leaving behind their security and staff,” an NCP leader who was present at the bungalow said.

Ajit Pawar’s rebellion draws parallels to how Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde broke away from the Shiv Sena during Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray’s Chief Ministership, eventually gaining control of the party.

In 2019, the Shiv Sena ended its alliance with the BJP and formed the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra with the Congress and NCP. The government collapsed last year when Shinde split the party and joined hands with the BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis to form a new government.

Asserting his leadership of the “real NCP,” Ajit Pawar has garnered the support of senior party leaders and former key aides of Sharad Pawar, like Praful Patel, Chhagan Bhujbal and Dilip Walse Patil.

Meanwhile, Sharad Pawar has also claimed his position as the leader of the “real NCP” and expelled several senior leaders for “anti-party activities.”