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Ajit Pawar, Fadnavis hold late night meet; CMO says discussed farmers’ issues
On Sunday, the Supreme Court issued notices to the Centre, Maharashtra government, Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar on a plea filed by the Congress-Shiv Sena-NCP combine seeking quashing of the governor’s November 23 order inviting the BJP leader to form government.
Newly-anointed Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar called on CM Devendra Fadnavis late night on Sunday and held closed-door meeting at latter’s Mumbai residence. The CM and his deputy held the meeting hours after the latter locked horns with uncle and National Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Twitter.
Ajit Pawar, in one of his tweets, insisted that he was in the NCP and and that the BJP-NCP alliance shall provide a stable government in Maharashtra.
“I am in the NCP and shall always be in the NCP and @PawarSpeaks Saheb [Sharad Pawar] is our leader. Our BJP-NCP alliance shall provide a stable government in Maharashtra for the next five years which will work sincerely for the welfare of the State and its people,” he tweeted.
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Less than an hour later, Sharad Pawar shot back and ruled out any possibility of an alliance between the NCP and BJP.
BJP. “There is no question of forming an alliance with @BJP4Maharashtra. NCP has unanimously decided to ally with @ShivSena & @INCMaharashtra to form the government. Shri Ajit Pawar’s statement is false and misleading in order to create confusion and false perception among the people,”Sharad Pawar tweeted.
After the meeting, a late night tweet from the CMO Maharashtra said the CM and the deputy CM discussed various measures for rain-hit farmers.
On Sunday, the Supreme Court ordered the Centre to produce before it on Monday documents pertaining to the swearing-in of Devendra Fadnavis as Maharashtra chief minister. The apex court was hearing a petition by Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress challenging governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s decision to invite the BJP to form the government in the state on Saturday.
In a dramatic turn of events, Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar were sworn in as Maharashtra chief minister and deputy chief minister, respectively, by the governor after President’s Rule was lifted on Saturday morning. The twist in the Maharashtra tale came hours after the new alliance of Shiv Sena, the NCP and the Congress arrived at a consensus that Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will be their chief ministerial candidate.
