Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has said the state government has the backing of 225 MLAs in the 288-member assembly, amid the opposition’s demand to dismiss the Eknath Shinde-led government over the law and order situation, reported PTI. Speaking at an event on Saturday in Mumbai where Congress leader Baba Siddique joined the Nationalist Congress Party led by him, Pawar said no such demand was made after the 26/11 terrorist attacks here, when a Congress-led coalition was in power in Maharashtra. He, however, also said that he was not defending or justifying the recent incidents of violence over which the opposition has trained its guns on the government.
Earlier, Pawar had confirmed that former Congress leader Baba Siddique will join his Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) group on Saturday evening, after cutting ties with his erstwhile party this week. Pawar also said some more leaders apart from Siddique are in queue to join his party on Feb 11.
At a media interaction Pawar was also asked about the Sharad Pawar group led by their city president, Prashant Jagtap, removing his name from the Pune party office. Pawar said, “I made him (Jagtap) Pune mayor despite him not having much support within the party. Due to some internal conflict, he wanted to resign, but I did not accept his resignation and supported him. Today, he is doing what he thinks is right and I do not want to comment on it.”