Ajit Pawar camp's response after meeting Sharad Pawar for the second time in 24 hours: "Listened to us...didn't say anything."
After the meeting, Praful Patel said the breakaway faction of the NCP once again requested Sharad Pawar to keep the party united. "He listened to us but did not say anything," Patel added.
Deputy CM Ajit Pawar and NCP leaders at YB Chavan Centre on Monday
Leaders of the group led by Maharashtra's deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar met with party veteran Sharad Pawar for the second time in two days on Monday as part of their ongoing efforts to keep the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) unified.
The meeting takes place on the first day of the monsoon session of the state Assembly and one day after Ajit Pawar, Praful Patel, and Chhagan Bhujbal unexpectedly visited Sharad Pawar to ask for his "blessings" on Sunday.
"Today I met Sharad Pawar at the YB Chavan Center with Ajit Pawar, Sunil Tatkare, and myself. We begged him once more to maintain the NCP's unity. Patel told reporters following the meeting, "He listened to us but said nothing.
The NCP had not met since Ajit Pawar took office as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra on July 2, when there was a vertical split within the party. On Friday, eight NCP MLAs were sworn in as ministers and given portfolios alongside him.
In the monsoon session of the state legislature, Patel had stated that all ministers will serve under Ajit Pawar's direction.
The NCP ministers apologized for the occurrences that occurred and asked Pawar saheb to find a solution, according to Sharad Pawar supporter Jayant Patil. They asked him, but he didn't respond.
According to sources, Ajit ordered all ministers to refrain from criticizing their NCP comrades who remain loyal to Sharad Pawar. "He (Ajit) claimed that now that we are in power, NCP MLAs who support Sharad Pawar will criticize us. Despite this, we don't have to approach them the same way. Instead, it would be prudent to refrain from tarnishing the names of or disparaging those MLAs with whom we have collaborated for so long, a minister told The Indian Express.
Sharad Pawar has been the NCP's leader for 20 years, therefore according to deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, the meeting was "no big deal."
As many as 27 of the NCP's 53 MLAs were absent when the monsoon session got underway.Nawab Malik, an NCP MLA, is now being held in custody by the court due to a money laundering investigation.Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse Patil, Hasan Mushrif, Aditi Tatkare, Sanjay Bansode, Dhananjay Munde, Anil Patil, and Dharmarao Atram were sitting on the ruling side of the chamber among the 24 NCP MLAs present.
Congress members shouted anti-state government chants on the first day of the session, accusing it of engaging in corruption. Only Ambadas Danve, the opposition leader in the state Legislative Council, represented the Shiv Sena (UBT) during the demonstration. During the demonstration, no lawmakers from the Sharad Pawar-led NCP camp were in attendance.
Mallikarjun Kharge, the head of the Congress, dispelled rumors that Sharad Pawar would miss the Opposition meeting on July 18 in Bengaluru. He stated that he would like to be in Mumbai for the start of the (Maharashtra) Assembly. However, he will attend the meeting tomorrow, according to Kharge.
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