After the meeting, Ramdas Athawale said Ajit Pawar's support to the NDA will "further weaken" the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA)

Ramdas Athawale, who heads the Republican Party of India (A), said it was a courtesy visit after Pawar became the deputy CM of the state

Ajit Pawar on Sunday led a vertical split in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to become deputy chief minister in the Shiv Sena-BJP government

Eight other NCP MLAs, including Chhagan Bhujbal and Hasan Mushrif, were sworn in as ministers in the Eknath Shinde cabinet

The MVA comprises the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), Sharad Pawar-led NCP faction and the Congress. In June last year, the MVA government of Thackeray collapsed after a revolt led by Eknath Shinde against the Shiv Sena leadership. The revolt also led to a split in the Shiv Sena