Amid the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) crisis in Maharashtra, both the factions Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar camp has convened separate meetings in Mumbai today where a clear picture may emerge on the exact number of MLAs backing each group amid the contrasting claims.
In the 2004 Vidhan Sabha election, NCP had more MLAs than Congress. Had we not given Chief Minister post to Congress at that time, till date, Maharashtra would have had a Chief Minister only from Nationalist Congress Party, said Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar at the meeting of his faction of NCP leaders in Mumbai.
In a surprise move on July 2nd NCP leader Ajit Pawar who was also the Maharashtra Leader of Opposition joined the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance in Maharashtra and took oath as Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister. The move by NCP chief Sharad Pawar's nephew Ajit Pawar, which also saw eight other NCP MLAs joining the Shinde-Fadnavis government, came amid efforts by opposition parties to forge unity to take on the BJP in the next year's Lok Sabha polls.