NCP informs Guv of Ajit Pawar's replacement as legislature wing leader

NCP leader Jayant Patil

NCP leader Jayant Patil went to the Raj Bhawan on Sunday with a letter to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to inform him about the replacement of Ajit Pawar as the legislature party leader. The governor is not in Mumbai, a Raj Bhawan official told PTI. Pawar was removed as the NCP's legislature unit leader on Saturday, hours after he joined hands with the BJP in a coup and took oath as the deputy of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Fadnavis on Saturday returned as chief minister propped up by Ajit Pawar, who was made his deputy, just hours after the new alliance of Shiv Sena, the NCP, and the Congress reached a consensus that Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will be their chief ministerial candidate. Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar were sworn in by Koshyari at a hush-hush ceremony here, leading to the lifting of the President's rule in the state.

On Saturday evening, the NCP removed Ajit Pawar as the party's legislature unit head, saying his move was not in line with the party's policies. State NCP chief Jayant Patil will have all the constitutional rights till the next legislature party leader is elected, the party said. The resolution passed at the NCP meeting also said that Ajit Pawar's right to issue a whip was also revoked. Ajit Pawar, the NCP chief's nephew, was elected as the legislature party leader on October 30 following the results of the Maharashtra Assembly elections.

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