Ajit Pawar splits NCP, takes oath as Maharashtra Dy CM Shinde

NCP leader Ajit Pawar joined the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance in Maharashtra and took oath as Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister on Sunday in a surprise and dramatic political move that changed political equations in the state ahead of Lok Sabha and assembly polls next year and has ramifications for national politics.

The day of hectic political developments in Maharashtra saw state Chief Minister Eknath Shinde using "hit wicket" cricket parlance in an apparent response to "googly' analogy used earlier by NCP leader Sharad Pawar to target BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

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The move by Sharad Pawar's nephew Ajit Pawar, which also saw eight other NCP MLAs joining the Shinde-Fadnavis government, came amid efforts by opposition parties to forge unity to take on the BJP in the next year's Lok Sabha polls. Sharad Pawar, a former Mahrashtra Chief Minister, has been a key leader in opposition unity efforts.

Hitting out at NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Shinde said that some people were talking about "googly" but everyone saw who was clean bowled and "it's a hit wicket".

"This is not a new government, Shiv Sena and BJP government were functioning under PM Modi's leadership. Development work was going on and Ajit Pawar who believed in the development work, supported and joined the government," CM Shinde said.

"I welcome him and his MLAs wholeheartedly. He has a lot of MPs and MLAs which will definitely help in the development of Maharashtra. This double-engine government will now run at the speed of a bullet train. MVA government is broken... Some people were talking about googly and clean bowled, but everyone saw today who was clean bowled...it's a hit wicket", Shinde added.

Ajit Pawar's move in some ways resembled the split in Shiv Sena almost a year back which led to Shinde becoming Chief Minister. The move came over three-and-a-half years after Fadnavis took oath as Chief Minister and Ajit Pawar as deputy CM at an early morning swearing-in ceremony, but their government did not last long.