Mumbai: For the fourth time in three years, Maharashtra braced for a political earthquake as Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar ‘split’ the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to join the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party government of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis Sunday.
Ajit Pawar, senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal along with a few NCP MLAs took the oath of office and Ajit Pawar was sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
The fast-paced political developments came after a routine meeting of his supporting MLAs and within hours, the decision was taken to walk out of the NCP.
This afternoon, Pawar, along with several NCP heavyweights, went to Raj Bhavan to meet Governor Ramesh Bais and hand over a letter of support signed by around three-dozen MLAs.
Soon afterwards, Shinde, Fadnavis, BJP state President Chandrashekhar Bawankule and other senior leaders of the ruling alliance also rushed to Raj Bhavan.
IANS