PM Modi... The real reason why Ajit Pawar joined BJP-Shiv Sena govt in Maharashtra

Maharashtra politics took a new turn over the weekend after Ajit Pawar succeeded in engineering a split within Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and extended support to NDA-led government in the state.

On Sunday, Pawar took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister and even revealed the reason of joining the local BJP-Shiv Sena coalition government.

Pawar said the NCP decided to join the coalition government in Maharashtra to “support” Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s effort in taking India “forward on the path of development”.

He asserted that the country is progressing under the leadership of PM Modi and therefore, he decided to extend support to the Centre by joining the Eknath Shinde-led government in Maharashtra.

“We decided to prioritise development. PM Narendra Modi has been strongly working for the country for the last nine years and he is taking the country forward on the path of development. We believed that we should also support that effort,” Pawar said.

“Overall and comprehensive development was taken into account. We have a vast experience of the administration, we can utilise it for the good,” he said.

Addressing a press conference after taking oath as Maharashtra Deputy CM, Pawar said, “There will be a discussion on the portfolios later. Considering all aspects at the national level, we thought that we should support development.”

Alongside Pawar, 8 other members of NCP took oath as part of the NDA government at Raj Bhawan on Sunday. They are:

1. Chhagan Bhujbal
2. Dilip Walse Patil
3. Aditi Tatkare
4. Dhananjay Munde
5. Hasan Mushrif
6. Ramraje Nimbalkar
7. Sanjay Bansode
8. Anil Bhaidas Patil

‘Can go with BJP as well’

Pawar defended his decision to share power with BJP and said, “If we can go with the Shiv Sena, then we can go with the BJP as well. The same thing happened in Nagaland as well.”

Was it all sudden?

As per Pawar, the decision to join Maharashtra government was discussed “for many days” and it received support by “majority of MLAs”.

“We all worked under the guidance of (party chief) Sharad Pawar ji. We will now promote young blood… I don’t care about criticism. I will work towards the welfare of people of Maharashtra. And we took the decision… Majority of MLAs support it,” the newly sworn in Maharashtra Deputy CM said.

Ajit Pawar as Maharashtra Deputy CM

Ajit Pawar has not become the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra for the first time. He has served the post five times, including twice before 2019 in a Congress-led government.

Interestingly, Pawar has been donning the role of Deputy CM for the third time in four years under three chief ministers — BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis, Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde.

With inputs from agencies

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