Ajit Pawar meets Pune NCP leaders amid mass defection to Sharad Pawar camp

The NCP suffered a major jolt after 25 leaders, including Pimpri-Chinchwad unit chief Ajit Gavhane, quit the party and joined the NCP(SP) on Wednesday.

Published on: Jul 18, 2024, 11:55:05 IST

By HT News Desk

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Nationalist Congress Party leader and Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday held meetings with party leaders from Pimpri Chinchwad in Pune after the local leadership dealt a major blow to the NCP.

Maharashtra Deputy CM and NCP leader Ajit Pawar. (PTI)

The meeting was underway at Pune Circuit House.

The development comes a day after the NCP suffered a major jolt after 25 leaders, including Pimpri-Chinchwad unit chief Ajit Gavhane, quit the party and joined the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar).

Besides Gavhane, senior NCP leaders from Pimpri-Chinchwad unit, Rahul Bhosale, Pankaj Bhalekar and Yash Sane, quit the party on Tuesday and joined the NCP(SP) a day later at party chief Sharad Pawar’s residence in Pune. The remaining members who switched sides are former corporators.

“We have joined Sharad Pawar’s party. We believe only this party can take Pimpri-Chinchwad and the rest of Maharashtra forward,” Gavhane had said.

Also Read | BJP subtly asking Ajit Pawar to quit ruling alliance, claims NCP(SP)

The political developments also came amid growing dissent within the NCP after its poor show in the Lok Sabha elections, in which it bagged only one seat. NCP functionaries earlier had alleged that Ajit Pawar no longer shares easy relationship with party heads in the ruling Mahayuti alliance.

An RSS-affiliated publication ‘Vivek' has claimed that voter sentiments in Maharashtra turned against the BJP following its alliance with the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, resulting in bad performance of the saffron party.

This, according to the NCP-SP, is a subtle message to Ajit Pawar to leave the ruling bloc in Maharashtra.

The NCP split in July last year after Ajit Pawar and some MLAs broke away from Sharad Pawar and joined the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government. Ajit Pawar took oath as deputy chief minister alongside eight other loyalist lawmakers who took charge as ministers.

With the tenure of the Maharashtra assembly set to end on November 26, the state is scheduled to go to the polls later this year.

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HT News Desk
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