Ajit Pawar, a leader of India's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), has denied rumours of splitting from the party, stating that he will remain with the NCP "until his last breath". The NCP's Sharad Pawar, the uncle of Ajit, has been aware of his nephew's alleged parleys with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and outreach to his MLAs, and decided to put these speculations in the public domain to force his hand. However, there is unease in the BJP over an upcoming Supreme Court judgement on the disqualification of 16 Shinde group MLAs, and the party has allegedly begun making backup plans.
Earlier in the day, a slew of NCP MLAs like Anna Bansode, Manikrao Kokate Dilip Bankar and Amol Mitkari, had told the media that they supported Ajit Pawar.
Shiv Sena's mouth piece Saamna said the Covid-19 crisis in the country could have been averted if the Supreme Court took note of the large public rallies organised by politicians and the flouting of Covid-19 norms at Kumbh Mela.