New Delhi, July 6 : A day after a meeting in Mumbai, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday was chairing the party’s National Executive meeting here in wake of the split in the party by his nephew Ajit Pawar, who joined the Eknath Shinde government in Maharashtra.
The meeting at Sharad Pawar’s attendance began here with party’s Working President Supriya Sule and 13 more leaders, including P.C. Chacko, Jitendra Awhad, Fauzia Khan, and Vandana Chavan in attendance.
The meeting holds significance as the Ajit Pawar faction had moved the Election Commission to claim name and symbol of the party, contending that they have the backing of a majority of the party’s MLAs.
The Ajit Pawar-led camp claimed the backing of 40 elected party officials (MLAs, MLCs, and MPs).
The meeting in the national capital comes a day after Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar both held a meeting separately in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Ajit Pawar had taken oath as Deputy Chief Minister on July 2, along with eight NCP MLAs who became ministers too.
In the meeting called by Ajit Pawar on Wednesday, around 30 MLAs attended his first meeting in Mumbai.
Claims and counterclaims notwithstanding, senior leaders put the figures at 35 on Ajit Pawar side and 18 in Sharad Pawar’s camp, though the real picture has yet to emerge.
The NCP has 53 MLAs and Ajit Pawar would require the support of two-thirds – at least 36 legislators – without attracting the provisions of the anti-defection laws.
Earlier in the day, a poster war erupted with the party’s student wing putting up posters outside the party office dubbing Ajit Pawar as a ‘gaddar’ and also removing the old posters. The poster was put here outside the NCP office here.
