Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar on Monday said there was no confusion within the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance over his meeting with nephew and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in Pune.
Patil, who heads the Maharashtra NCP unit, also scotched speculation that he was set to join the Ajit Pawar-led group in the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party government.
'A poor candidate was given a chance so that the concerns of ordinary, needy citizens could be represented.'
The respect for the four-time former chief minister, often referred to as Saheb, in his stronghold of western Maharashtra is palpable in much of the region. But his estranged nephew also appears to enjoy a stature of his own in Baramati, a constituency represented by the senior Pawar for six terms before he passed the baton to Ajit Pawar in 1991.
The meeting was convened in the backdrop of the ruling Mahayuti's below par performance in the recently-concluded Lok Sabha elections.
Friendship with Ajit Pawar and the eventual destruction of the NCP can only strengthen him and the BJP.
Ajit Pawar has the support of more than 40 MLAs of the NCP, according to sources citing a letter submitted to Raj Bhavan.
Addressing a press conference in Satara, Sharad Pawar also said he has launched a statewide tour to strengthen the NCP and boost the confidence of party workers, unfazed by actions of a few leaders.
'If all of us (all the 57 Shiv Sena MLAs) stand together we can change the dynamic. We are not afraid of anyone.'
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has said he will extend all possible cooperation to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and will work as a team. Addressing a news conference, Shinde described his tenure as chief minister as very successful and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for their support. He also said the Mahayuti government secured a majority in the recent elections. Shinde said that when he was the chief minister, Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar extended cooperation to him and they worked as a team. He added that he will now be "dedicated to the common man" 24 x 7. In the first cabinet meeting after the swearing-in ceremony, officials were instructed to disburse the next instalment of the Ladki Bahin scheme to beneficiaries. Shinde also rubbished all talk of him being upset over not being made chief minister. He pointed out that 39 Shiv Sena MLAs were with him when he led a revolt in 2022, and today, the party has 57 MLAs, which he asserted was a seal of approval from the people. Shinde was given a rousing welcome at Anand Ashram, the headquarters of the Shiv Sena in Thane, following the swearing-in ceremony. Several hundred party workers thronged the area carrying placards and shouting slogans in his praise.
The rout of Sharad Pawar-led faction has raised questions over his political future with a potential risk of a further slide in the party flock in future.
'I not only came back, but returned after breaking two parties'
The old posters which had Ajit Pawar, Praful Patel alongside Sharad Pawar have been removed from outside the office premises.
The Maharashtra government is set to expand its cabinet on December 15 with 30-32 ministers taking the oath of office at a ceremony in Nagpur. The week-long winter session of the state legislature is scheduled to begin in Nagpur on December 16. The BJP-led government, which came to power after the November 20 assembly polls, has seen its fair share of twists and turns in the cabinet formation process. The BJP is likely to get 20-21 ministerial berths, followed by 11-12 for the Sena and 9-10 for the NCP.
The previous Congress-NCP government had issued an ordinance to grant a 16 per cent quota to Marathas and five per cent to Muslims.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday inaugurated the final 76-km-long stretch of the Samruddhi Mahamarg, making the entire 701-km Mumbai-Nagpur corridor fully functional and bringing down the travel time between the two cities to eight hours from around 18 hours.
In the video, Fadnavis can be heard describing what Ajit Pawar would be doing in prison after the election.
Police resorted to mild cane-charge to disperse activists of the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party in Pune on Thursday during a demonstration staged by the latter to condemn an editorial in the saffron outfit's mouthpiece that allegedly carried derogatory remarks against Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. The trouble started when Sena workers tried to prevent the NCP activists from burning copies of their mouthpiece Saamna at a city square.
"Who are they to tell me to retire? I can still work," Pawar said in an interview
All 20 Nationalist Congress Party ministers in the Maharashtra cabinet on Friday submitted their resignations to the party leadership amid reports of a large-scale reshuffle both at the government and party level.
His new nameplate now reads 'Eknath Gangubai Sambhaji Shinde'.
If false accusations are levelled against me, I will have no choice but to make audio-visual evidence public, Fadnavis said.
The crisis in Maharashtra government after Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's resignation is expected to draw to a close with the intervention of Union Agriculture Minister and NCP president Sharad Pawar on Friday.
Maharashtra state unit Nationalist Congress Party chief Sunil Tatkare said on Sunday that the NCP would contest upcoming the state assembly elections with the Congress party.
The Sena-NCP bonhomie was also seen after Shiv Sena leaders Eknath Shinde and Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray's Man Friday Milind Narvekar on Saturday caught Sanjay Bansod, NCP MLA from Udgir, who was set to fly out of Mumbai.
Fadnavis took oath as chief minister like a "thief on the run", it said in sarcastic remarks.
Bhujbal took a veiled attack at Sharad Pawar for the opposition's boycott of an all-party meeting on the Maratha quota issue.
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray's estranged nephew Raj Thackeray rushed to his uncle's defence on Wednesday, lambasting Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar for criticising the Sena patriarch.
The unexpected split in the Nationalist Congress Party set off a mini earthquake in not only Maharashtra politics but also sent aftershocks at a national level.
Asked to whom the demand was made, Gogavale said it was probably Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena alliance secured a majority in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, winning 118 out of 227 seats and ending the Thackeray family's long-standing control.
Ratan Tata is Maharashtra's first Udyog Ratna.
"If anyone did suggest that we should support the BJP contrary to the stand we had taken, (even) then many in the party including me did not agree with that (suggestion). Our stand not to go with the BJP was very clear," Sharad Pawar said.
Pawar did not entertain requests from members of the opposition INDIA alliance to not share stage with Modi.
Chavan, however, made it clear that if the NCP merger happens and if that party goes with the National Democratic Alliance, it would become difficult for the Congress to continue the alliance with them in Maharashtra.
He sought to nix speculation that the Congress and the Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray were working on a 'Plan B' to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha polls without his faction of the Nationalist Congress Party.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kirit Somaiya, who was vocal about allegations of corruption against many Nationalist Congress Party leaders, including the recently inducted ministers Ajit Pawar, Chhagan Bhujbal, Sunil Tatkare and Hasan Mushrif, on Tuesday refrained from commenting against them.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday said Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar is undeterred by the split in his party and can start afresh.
Discordant voices emerged on Sunday from the Mahayuti even as the alliance continued to remain in the throes of government formation more than week after it swept the Maharashtra assembly polls.
Now, the state has an unprecedented situation where there are six major political players with three on each side.
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