'Shinde says he's Shiv Sena? Ok. So Sena+Cong+NCP = majority': Ajit Pawar quips
Ajit Pawar said as Shinde camp says they are with the Shiv Sena, the majority is still with the Maha Vikas Aghadi.
Maharashtra deputy chief minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar on Friday explained how the Maha Vikas Aghadi still has the majority though the steady outflow of the MLAs to the rebel camp does not add up. The NCP leader said the Shinde faction has not walked out of the party and is only asserting that they are with Shiv Sena. "So Shive Sena plus NCP plus Congress together, we have a majority," Ajit Pawar said. Nationalist Congress Party leaders are scheduled to meet Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray later today. "Our stand is the same as yesterday. We will try to keep the government stable," Ajit Pawar said, as quoted by news agency ANI. Also Read: ‘Dare them to come back’, Sanjay Raut's fresh salvo at rebel MLAs
Follow LIVE updates of Maharashtra political crisis
The deputy chief minister said the goverment is functioning normally on being asked about the recently issued government orders for the release of funds worth thousand of crores in the last four days for departments which are mostly controlled by the NCP and the Congress. "We are in power and have the majority. We are making decisions as a Govt does. Wouldn't you have done the same if you were in power and had majority? Govt does have the right to take such decisions. The concerned minister and officers are making decisions together," Pawar said, as this has become a new issue amid the ongoing trouble in Maharashtra. The BJP has written to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari seeking his intervention in the rush of GRs (government resolutions) which the BJP said is suspicious.
Also Read: Uddhav Thackeray says 'left Varsha, not the fight' in address to Sena workers
Extending support to Uddhav despite Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut hinting that if the rebel MLAs come back to Mumbai, Sena will think of exiting the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance, the NCP maintained its stance that the alliance will complete the rest of the years of its term. NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday said the fate of the alliance will be decided on the floor of the assembly and the coalition will prove its majority in the trust vote.
