Ajit Pawar claims he was elected NCP chief at meet, Sharad Pawar counters

Two big Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) meetings took place in Mumbai on Wednesday.

As factions led by Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar battle it out to prove that they have the support of the majority of 53 MLAs.

The breakaway NCP group led by Ajit Pawar, who joined the Maharashtra government as the Deputy Chief Minister, held a meeting in Mumbai’s Bandra while Sharad Pawar faction’s meeting took place at Mumbai’s Nariman Point.

In a petition filed before the Election Commission on July 5, the Ajit Pawar-led faction claimed that a resolution was passed at a national executive meeting on June 30, that replaced Sharad Pawar as NCP president and elected Ajit Pawar to the top post.

However, Sharad Pawar denied Ajit’s claim of a working committee meeting being called on June 30. He said that the meeting did not have members of the working committee. Leaders like PC Chacko, Supriya Sule, Jayant Patil and Fauzia Khan, among others, were not aware of the meeting, he said.

ECI also received an e-mail on July 3 from Jayant Patil, who had filed a caveat. He also informed the commission about a proceeding for disqualification of 9 members of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.

Meanwhile, Ajit Pawar on Wednesday said that he aspired to become the chief minister. “I was sworn in deputy CM five times. It is a record but the vehicle stops there and doesn’t proceed further. I feel from the bottom of my heart that I should become pramukh (cm) of the state,” he said during a meeting in Mumbai’s Bandra.

The Ajit Pawar faction, which claimed to have the backing of 42 MLAs, flaunted 31 MLAs in a big show of strength. A total of 13 MLAs are present at the Sharad Pawar-led meeting at YB Chavan centre in Mumbai.

Amid the ongoing power tussle in the NCP, legislators supporting Ajit Pawar have been moved to a hotel in Mumbai. However, going by the numbers, Ajit Pawar is still short of MLAs needed to beat the anti-defection law.

Addressing the gathering, Ajit Pawar claimed some MLAs at the Sharad Pawar camp are in touch with him.

The 13 MLAs present at the YB Chavan centre are Anil Deshmukh, Rohit Pawar, Rajendra Shingne, Ashok Pawar, Kiran Lahmate, Prajakta Tanpure, Balasaheb Patil, Jitendra Awhad, Chetan Vithal Tupe, Jayant Patil, Rajesh Tope, Sandeep Kshirsagar and Devendra Bhuyar.

The NCP has 53 MLAs in the Maharashtra Assembly but 11 MLAs are not present at any meetings.

Meanwhile, Sharad Pawar lashed out at his nephew Ajit, and said he should have spoken to him. “Ajit Pawar should have spoken to me if he had any problems. If he had something on his mind he could have approached me,” said Sharad Pawar, during a meeting of his faction leaders.

Earlier in the day, the breakaway faction took affidavits from party workers to show their allegiance to Ajit Pawar. At the registration counters, people coming for registration had to fill in their names, number, Aadhar details, address and post.

“More than 40 MLAs are with us. We did all the due diligence before taking the oath. We did not take the oath just like that,” Chhagan Bhujbal, part of Ajit faction, said.

Ahead of the key meetings, banners were seen outside Sharad Pawar’s residence asking people to come support the “83-year-old warrior fighting alone”. The Ajit Pawar camp also used the photo of the NCP chief, despite Sharad Pawar asking them not to.

Meanwhile, the fight for the party name and symbol of the NCP is set to reach the Election Commission soon. The NCP faction led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar is mulling the option of approaching the Election Commission (EC) after the key meeting today, sources told India Today. This comes even as the Sharad Pawar-led NCP has filed a caveat with the poll body.