Ajit Pawar claims he was elected NCP chief at meet, Sharad Pawar counters

Two big Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) meetings took place in Mumbai on Wednesday.

As factions led by Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar battle it out to prove that they have the support of the majority of 53 MLAs.

The breakaway NCP group led by Ajit Pawar, who joined the Maharashtra government as the Deputy Chief Minister, held a meeting in Mumbai’s Bandra while Sharad Pawar faction’s meeting took place at Mumbai’s Nariman Point.

In a petition filed before the Election Commission on July 5, the Ajit Pawar-led faction claimed that a resolution was passed at a national executive meeting on June 30, that replaced Sharad Pawar as NCP president and elected Ajit Pawar to the top post.

However, Sharad Pawar denied Ajit’s claim of a working committee meeting being called on June 30. He said that the meeting did not have members of the working committee. Leaders like PC Chacko, Supriya Sule, Jayant Patil and Fauzia Khan, among others, were not aware of the meeting, he said.

ECI also received an e-mail on July 3 from Jayant Patil, who had filed a caveat. He also informed the commission about a proceeding for disqualification of 9 members of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.