28 Leaders From Ajit Pawar Faction Join Sharad Pawar’s NCP: Sources

In a major development, 28 members from the Ajit Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have switched allegiance to the NCP (Sharad Pawar) faction, sources told CNN-News18.

On Tuesday, four NCP leaders—including Pimpri-Chinchwad unit’s city president Ajit Gavhane, student leader Yash Sane, and two former corporators, Pankaj Bhalekar and Rahul Bhosale—quit the party in the wake of its dismal performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections to join the NCP (SP).

This development comes after Maharashtra cabinet minister Chhagan Bhujbal, an OBC leader from the rival Ajit Pawar faction, met Sharad Pawar at his residence in Mumbai on Monday and sought his intervention in the Maratha quota issue.

Speaking about the meeting, Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said, “Bhujbal came to meet me. I had a fever. I took two days off. I was told that he has come, that he has been waiting for an hour and does not want to leave. After that, I met him and he spoke to me at length. He asked me to work together to improve the social environment in Maharashtra, to work together in the state’s interest.”

However, Bhujbal’s request was met with a retort by Sharad, who questioned why the Opposition was being taken into confidence after all decisions had been made.

“They are in power, they took a decision on Maratha reservation, and now they want to ask the Opposition to state our position?” asked Sharad, maintaining that it was important to ensure that the rights of OBCs were maintained while also asking the government to clarify what promises were made to Maratha reservation leader Jarange Patil and which of these were delivered.

Sharad’s comments come after leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which includes the Congress, NCP (SP), and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), did not attend the all-party meeting convened by state Chief Minister Shinde on July 9. They had claimed that the opposition was not consulted regarding the Maratha reservation issue.