NCP leader Ajit Pawar on Sunday joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government in Maharashtra as Deputy Chief Minister of the state. He will share the post of deputy CM with BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis. Denied the post of chief of Nationalist Congress Party's Maharashtra unit, Ajit Pawar, the nephew of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, was reported to be disgruntled with his position in the party.

The newly elected Maharashtra deputy chief minister has claimed that his decision to ally with the Shinde government has the support of all NCP MLAs. Earlier today, Ajit Pawar called a meeting of the NCP MLAs at his residence and it was attended by party's working president and Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule among others.

Ajit Pawar took oath as Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra at Raj Bhavan in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Fadnavis. NCP leaders Dhananjay Munde, Chhagan Bhujbal, Aditi Tatkare and Anil Patil were also sworn in as ministers in the Maharashtra Cabinet. Dilip Walse Patil, Hasan Mushrif, Dharmaraj Babarao Atram and Sanjay Bansode also joined these leaders in taking oath as ministers.

Recommended For You

Ajit Pawar Joins Eknath Shinde Govt: LIVE Updates

- NCP leader Jitendra Awhad has been appointed the Leader of Opposition and chief whip in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.

- NCP supporters protest against Ajit Pawar's move in Mumbai as they smerar black ink on the posters of party leaders who joined the Shinde government.

- NCP chief Sharad Pawar reacts strongly to Ajit Pawar's decision to break away from the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance. "This is not 'googly', it is a robbery. It is not a small thing. I will never say that my home has split, this issue is not regarding my home, this is the issue of people. I am worried about the future of those who left."

Pawar hits out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he alleges ED actions against NCP leaders. "I want to give the credit for this to PM Modi. Two days ago, he had made statements and after that statement, some people started feeling uneasy, some of them were also facing ED actions," says Sharad Pawar.

- After joining Shinde Cabinet, NCP leader and newly elected Maharashtra Minister Chhagan Bhujabal, says, "Pawar Saheb himself said that Narendra Modi is coming back as the Prime Minister and as a positive gesture, we have decided to come with this govt for development."

Bhujabal says, "We have joined the government as its third party. Few people are saying that we have split the party but that is not correct. We have come here as NCP. We have also criticised Modi government on many occasions but it is true that the country is safe in his hands."

- Ajit Pawar says, "Some MLAs could not be contacted as they are out of country but I spoke to all of them and they agreed with our decision."

- Addressing a press conference after joining hands with BJP-Shiv Sena government, Maharashtra Minister Chhagan Bhujabal says, "They (opposition) are saying that we are here because we have cases against us and we are under pressure. Most of us either no longer have cases against us or the investigations are underway. The Court has not taken any coercive steps against us because there is nothing concrete against us. So saying that we joined because we were under pressure is not correct."

- Newly elected Maharashtra Deputy CM, Ajit Pawar, addresses the media after joing Eknath Shinde-led government. "Previously NCP got 7 MLAs in Nagaland and all MLAs went with BJP on the party's decision. If we can go with BJP in Nagaland then why can't we go with BJP here also. We will do everything for the betterment of Maharashtra," he says.

- Following the swearing-in ceremony of Ajit Pawar and NCP leaders, Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde says, "Now we have one chief minister and two deputy chief ministers. The double-engine government has now become triple engine. For the development of Maharashtra, I welcome Ajit Pawar and his leaders. Ajit Pawar's experience will help strengthen Maharashtra."

- Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde says, "There is enough time to discuss about the seat sharing in the cabinet. We have come together to develop Maharashtra. They (the opposition) got 4-5 seats in Lok Sabha elections, this time they will not manage to get even those number of seats."

- Earlier, Ajit Pawar announced that he wants to step down as Leader of the Opposition in Maharashtra and would like any party post in NCP. At a party event on Wednesday, he said, "I was never interested in working as Leader of Opposition but accepted the role on demand of the party MLAs. Assign me any post in the party organisation and I will do complete justice to whatever responsibility given to me."

- Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis seen ahead of Ajit Pawar's oath ceremony at Raj Bhavan.

- Maharashtra Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar says "More than 40 MLAs are extending support to the government. Almost the entire NCP will be joining. Ajit Pawar's post will be decided by CM Eknath Shinde. He will distribute the portfolios. The oath-taking ceremony will begin in 5 minutes."

- Some of the NCP MLAs, who have accompanied Ajit Pawar to Raj Bhavan, were allegedly upset with Sharad Pawar's "unilateral" decision to share stage and ally with Rahul Gandhi at the Opposition unity meet in Patna, ANI reports citing sources.

- "Ajit Pawar and other NCP MLAs have come here. An Oath ceremony will be held here," says Maharashtra BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule.

- Ajit Pawar and CM Eknath Shinde reach Raj Bhavan where the NCP leader will take oath as the Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister.

- "We are going to Raj Bhavan along with CM Shinde. I will tell you after the meeting," news agency ANI quotes Maharashtra Minister Uday Samant as saying.

- Meanwhile, BJP's core committee meeting was held at the residence of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis. Chandrakant Patil, Ravindra Chavan, Sudhir Mungantiwar and other leaders were present at the meeting.

- Reacting to reports of a meeting being held at Ajit Pawar's house, Sharad Pawar said, "I do not know exactly why this meeting has been called but being the leader of the Opposition, he (Ajit Pawar) has the right to call a meeting of MLAs. He does that regularly. I don't have much detail about this meeting."

- A meeting of NCP leaders was called at the residence of NCP leader Ajit Pawar. NCP working president Supriya Sule, party leader Praful Patel and others attended the meeting.


Also In News