In 1999, Sharad Pawar was expelled from the Congress for objecting to Sonia Gandhi's leadership and thus the Nationalist Congress Party was born. On July 2, as the NCP stands split between Sharad Pawar and his nephew Ajit Pawar who joined hands with the BJP to become the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, Sonia Gandhi extended her support to Sharad Pawar. Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said Sonia Gandhi spoke to Sharad Pawar to discuss the situation and extended support to him. Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi also spoke to Sharad Pawar as senior Pawar clarified that Ajit Pawar's action was not endorsed by the party.
NCP crisis after Ajit Pawar becomes deputy CM: Follow LIVE
Ajit Pawar versus Sharad Pawar: Here are the top developments
1. Ajit Pawar says he is NCP: After taking oath as the deputy chief minister, Ajit Pawar claimed that he has the support and the blessing of the party. He said there is no fight over the NCP symbol as he will stake claim to the NCP symbol. Around 40 MLAs have supported Ajit Pawar.
2. Sharad Pawar said the party did not endorse Ajit Pawar's action. He said from now on he will be the face of the party and will go to the people for a decision on who the real NCP is. Sharad Pawar said Mamata Banerjee, Mallikarjun Kharge called him and extended support, KC Venugopal said Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi too spoke to Pawar over phone.
{{/usCountry}}2. Sharad Pawar said the party did not endorse Ajit Pawar's action. He said from now on he will be the face of the party and will go to the people for a decision on who the real NCP is. Sharad Pawar said Mamata Banerjee, Mallikarjun Kharge called him and extended support, KC Venugopal said Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi too spoke to Pawar over phone.
{{/usCountry}}3. Sharad Pawar has convened a meeting on July 5 to discuss the developments and the future could of action. Maharashtra NCP chief Jayant Patil said NCP is not with Ajit Pawar.
4. Praful Patel, who was made the working president of the NCP by Sharad Pawar along with Supriya Sule was present at Ajit Pawar's swearing-in. He broke his silence after the drama unfolded throughout the day and said it was the party's decision to join the NDA.
"I will not comment on whatever our leader Sharad Pawar has said, he is a highly respectable person. Whatever decision we have taken... as Ajit Pawar mentioned in his press conference, it is the party's decision, a collective decision. There is no pressure from anyone..." Praful Patel said.
5. Ajit Pawar said he resigned from the post of the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly on Friday. NCP leadership said they were not aware of this. Jitendra Ahwad was appointed as the Leader of Opposition in Ajit Pawar's place.
6. Sharad Pawar said recently PM Modi brought corruption charges against NCP but by accommodating them in the Maharashtra Cabinet, PM Modi exonerated them.
7. Number game: NCP has 53 MLAs and Ajit Pawar said he has the support of all the MLAs. However, Jitendra Ahwad, for example, said he was never approached by Ajit Pawar's faction. On the claim that the support in favour of Ajit Pawar could go up to 46, Jitendra Ahwad said, "Wait till Sharad Pawar gets active fully, once he starts dialling numbers of his MLAs."
8. Eknath Shinde said now there will be a triple-engine government in Maharashtra. Uddhav Sena said the move indicates that Eknath Shinde is incompetent. The Congress said it is the BJP's 'washing machine' in action.