With Ajit Pawar betraying his uncle Sharad Pawar, the politics of Maharashtra have taken a new twist. In politics, trust is an important issue. Ajit Pawar gave a surprise to all those political analysts who were predicting Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray as Chief Minister with the alliance of Shiv Sena, NCP, and Congress. As per reports, around 10-12 NCP leaders joined Ajit Pawar in this event, and owing to this, NCP Chief Sharad Pawar expressed his disappointment stating unexpected and unfortunate act by his nephew. Furthermore, Sharad Pawar mentioned that he was not aware of these tactics and assured that the party would definitely take action regarding the same. But Ajit and Sharad Pawar are not the only uncle-nephew duo who has had differences. If you look back in politics of India you will recall Gopinath Munde and Dhananjay Munde, besides Ajit Pawar, NCP leader Dhananjay Munde has also played a very important role in making Devendra Fadnavis, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, as he allegedly showed strong support to the BJP. Dhananjay Munde, who has also been the leader of NCP in the Legislative Council, betrayed his uncle Gopinath Munde’s trust. He was a prominent BJP leader in Maharashtra and at the Centre. Dhananjay Munde also started his political career with the BJP and has also been the President of Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha. But in the year 2012, Dhananjay left the BJP party of uncle Gopinath Munde and joined the NCP in the presence of Sharad Pawar.
Sunil Tatkare is a prominent NCP leader and a member of the Lok Sabha. He was once the Minister of Food and Civil Supplies, Energy and Minister of Finance and planning both in the state. Sunil Tatkare’s nephew Avdhoot Tatkare was also an MLA from the Shrivardhan assembly seat. However, Avdhoot Tatkare joined Shiv Sena before the 2019 Assembly elections. Jaydutt Kshirsagar joined the Shiv Sena in May, after resigning as MLA from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Later he was also a part of the cabinet with Devendra Fadnavis. Sandeep Kshirsagar, nephew of Jaydutt contested assembly elections on NCP ticket; and both Jaydutt and Sandip contested from Beed assembly. While Jaydutt contested on the Shiv Sena ticket, Sandeep contested on the NCP ticket. Jaydutt had to face defeat in this election.
Everyone is aware of Raj Thackeray’s political connections and relationship with Shiv Sena chief late Balasaheb Thackeray. After Uddhav Thackeray was made the Shiv Sena President, Raj Thackeray broke his ties with the Shiv Sena and formed a new party of his own, which he named the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. However, that was not the case as of Saturday morning. At 5:47 am, the President’s Rule was called off from the state with the signoff from President Ram Nath Kovind. At 7.50 am, in the presence of Governor of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis took oath as the Chief Minister of the state for the second time while Ajit Pawar from NCP took oath as Deputy CM.
A handful of NCP members attended this swearing-in ceremony only to later claim that they were tricked into attending it. Following this, a writ petition was filed in Supreme Court against the centre’s move to end President’s rule and the Governor’s move to invite Devendra Fadnavis to form the government. The hearing was scheduled at 11:30 am on Sunday and a three-judge bench of Justices NV Ramana, Ashok Bhushan, and Sanjiv Khanna heard this petition. The proceeding started with Congress leader Kapil Sibal chalking out how the things unfolded right from the results of the election till today. He apologised to the court for making them sit on a Sunday and while taking the court through the incidences as they unfolded questioned why none of the documents was in public record. He even went on record to say that Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar were sworn in a “bizarre manner” and urged the floor test should be conducted on Monday itself. Abhishek Manu Singhvi who was appearing on behalf of Congress-NCP-Shiv Sena’s plea also urged to have the floor test on Monday or Tuesday. He even pointed out that, “Supreme Court has consistently ordered floor tests to be held immediately whether it’s in UP in the year 1998 or Karnataka in 2018. May the best person win.” NCP MLAs have said that [they] we are with NCP and we don’t recognise him as NCP leader anymore.”
Mukul Rohatgi appearing for Maharashtra BJP in Supreme Court, on the other hand, argued that there was no need to have a hearing on a Sunday and as per him this matter should not have been listed. He asked that two or three days must be given. He said, “If they had the support they should have formed the government in 17 days. Governor action is immune and he must be satisfied.” He even reminded the court that Governor’s decision can’t be under judicial review. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta also made an appearance in court on behalf of the Centre, and he claimed that the alliance does not have the numbers to form the government and their plea can’t be allowed. The inquiry in the Maharashtra irrigation scam against Ajit Pawar has been closed. The state Anti-Corruption Bureau closed its file of inquiry against Pawar. This development comes just 48 hours after the NCP leader extended his support to the state BJP.
