'Scared, waiting for Karnataka's Ajit Pawar': Kumaraswamy on Maharashtra crisis

Kumaraswamy also took a sharp swipe at Ajit Pawar - whose controversial switch from the NCP to the BJP this weekend has weakened Sharad Pawar's hold on the NCP.

The political crisis in Maharashtra has caused some concern in neighboring Karnataka with ex chief minister HD Kumaraswamy predicting a similarly 'shocking development' in his state, where the Bharatiya Janata Party was voted out (and the Congress voted in) in May.

'Scared, waiting for Karnataka's Ajit Pawar': Kumaraswamy on Maharashtra crisis (AP)

Kumaraswamy also took a sharp swipe at Ajit Pawar - whose controversial switch from the Nationalist Congress Party to the BJP this weekend has weakened his uncle Sharad Pawar's hold on the NCP - and declared 'we are waiting to see who will (be) Karnataka's Ajit Pawar'.

"After Ajit Pawar's decision to support BJP I am scared of what will happen in Karnataka. We are waiting to see who will turn Karnataka's Ajit Pawar in near future..." Kumaraswamy said.

The Janata Dal (Secular) leader - whose dreams of being a 'kingmaker' amid predictions of a tight race between the BJP and the Congress were shattered after the latter's big win - is a two-time former chief minister of Karnataka.

What happened in Maharashtra?

In events eerily similar to those that have unseated non-BJP governments in other states, on Saturday Ajit Pawar and more than three dozen NCP lawmakers split from Sharad Pawar's grasp and joined with the BJP; Ajit and nine MLAs were inducted into the cabinet.

Ajit Pawar has retained the deputy chief minister post he held in the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government that was pulled down last year by the BJP and a breakaway Shiv Sena faction led by the current CM, Eknath Shinde.

Speaking after he was made deputy CM (again), Ajit Pawar said: "If we can go with Shiv Sena, we can go with the BJP. It is for the state's development..." The reference was to the headline-making tripartite alliance of the (undivided) Sena, the NCP and the Congress that came to power after the 2019 Maharashtra election and kept the BJP at bay.

"All the MLAs, MPs, and workers of NCP are with us... that is why I took oath as deputy CM. We will go together in the general election and Assembly election," Ajit Pawar said.

Maharashtra will vote for a new state government next year and will also vote in polls to select a new union government.