After the previous LoP Ajit Pawar joined the Eknath Shinde cabinet as the deputy chief minister, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) named Jitendra Awhad as the new LoP in the Maharashtra legislature and the party’s main whip in the lower house on Sunday.
In reference to the disqualification and defection issues that are anticipated to surface following Ajit Pawar’s decision to join the Maharashtra government, Mumbra-Kalwa MLA Awhad declared, ‘All the MLAs will have to abide by my whip,’ following his appointment as the LoP in the Maharashtra Assembly.
Awhad responded, ‘I don’t see any other reason behind these leaders deciding to join the state government,’ when questioned about the role played by the Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation investigations against some NCP officials in their decision to change sides. There was no requirement to take such action. Those authorities could have taken a seat.
‘These leaders should not forget the party made them ministers in the past 25 years. Now, they are deserting their leader (83-year-old Sharad Pawar) in his twilight years,’ Awhad said.
Ajit Pawar joined the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra cabinet as the state’s deputy chief minister earlier on Sunday, with the support of numerous NCP MLAs. Eight other NCP parliamentarians took their oaths as ministers at the same ceremony as Pawar, including prominent figures Chhagan Bhujbal, Dhananjay Munde, and Dilip Walse Patil.
Later, praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a press meeting, Ajit Pawar said, ‘The country is progressing under the leadership of PM Modi. He is also popular in other countries. Everyone supports him and appreciates his leadership. We will fight the upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections with them (BJP) and that is why we have taken this decision.’
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