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Express News Service
MUMBAI: Many Nationalist Congress Party MLAs are playing hide-and-seek during the monsoon session of the Maharashtra state assembly, making it difficult to gauge whether they support Sharad Pawar or Ajit Pawar.
After a major split in the party, Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and his uncle Sharad Pawar have both claimed their faction is the real NCP. The matter has gone to the Election Commission of India as each faction vies for recognition.
The Ajit Pawar faction has claimed the support of 40 MLAs, but only 24 were officially seen with him. In the state assembly, only 12 to 16 MLAs of the NCP were sitting with the ruling benches, while 12 to 14 MLAs were seen sitting at the Opposition side. The remaining MLAs have been playing hide-and-seek.
ALSO READ | NCP chief Sharad Pawar plays hardball with Ajit Pawar faction, remains ‘silent’ in meeting
“These NCP MLAs are entering the House only to sign the attendance, but avoiding sitting in the House so that they can remain neutral amid a crisis in the party. The MLAs do not want to see either Ajit Pawar nor Sharad Pawar. Therefore, it’s very difficult to identify who has more numbers,” said a senior Congress MLA who requested anonymity.
A senior NCP MLA belonging to the Ajit Pawar faction said the confusion will continue until Ajit Pawar is elevated as Chief Minister of Maharashtra. “We got the support of 45 NCP MLAs but they told us they will come out in the open when Ajit Dada is made the chief minister, otherwise they will remain neutral. If Ajit Pawar is made the chief minister, then it will empower the party and they will get good funds for development work as well. Until then, remaining neutral is beneficial to them,” he added.
Interestingly, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union minister Amit Shah late on Tuesday evening in Delhi is a signal that the top leadership is positively thinking about his elevation in state politics and government. “We were told that very soon we will get positive and good news. The reason is Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde was not present in this long, confidential meeting even though he was in Delhi to attend the NDA meeting. We can read this absence of CM Shinde in many ways, but let’s see, we are keeping our fingers crossed,” said the NCP leader, requesting anonymity.
MUMBAI: Many Nationalist Congress Party MLAs are playing hide-and-seek during the monsoon session of the Maharashtra state assembly, making it difficult to gauge whether they support Sharad Pawar or Ajit Pawar.
After a major split in the party, Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and his uncle Sharad Pawar have both claimed their faction is the real NCP. The matter has gone to the Election Commission of India as each faction vies for recognition.
The Ajit Pawar faction has claimed the support of 40 MLAs, but only 24 were officially seen with him. In the state assembly, only 12 to 16 MLAs of the NCP were sitting with the ruling benches, while 12 to 14 MLAs were seen sitting at the Opposition side. The remaining MLAs have been playing hide-and-seek.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
ALSO READ | NCP chief Sharad Pawar plays hardball with Ajit Pawar faction, remains ‘silent’ in meeting
“These NCP MLAs are entering the House only to sign the attendance, but avoiding sitting in the House so that they can remain neutral amid a crisis in the party. The MLAs do not want to see either Ajit Pawar nor Sharad Pawar. Therefore, it’s very difficult to identify who has more numbers,” said a senior Congress MLA who requested anonymity.
A senior NCP MLA belonging to the Ajit Pawar faction said the confusion will continue until Ajit Pawar is elevated as Chief Minister of Maharashtra. “We got the support of 45 NCP MLAs but they told us they will come out in the open when Ajit Dada is made the chief minister, otherwise they will remain neutral. If Ajit Pawar is made the chief minister, then it will empower the party and they will get good funds for development work as well. Until then, remaining neutral is beneficial to them,” he added.
Interestingly, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union minister Amit Shah late on Tuesday evening in Delhi is a signal that the top leadership is positively thinking about his elevation in state politics and government. “We were told that very soon we will get positive and good news. The reason is Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde was not present in this long, confidential meeting even though he was in Delhi to attend the NDA meeting. We can read this absence of CM Shinde in many ways, but let’s see, we are keeping our fingers crossed,” said the NCP leader, requesting anonymity.
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