Maharashtra: NCP MP Amol Kolhe, who backed Ajit Pawar, returns to Sharad Pawar

Just a day after backing Ajit Pawar, NCP MP Amol Kolhe on Monday pledged his support to party chief Sharad Pawar. Kolhe, a Lok Sabha MP from Shirur, was present at the Raj Bhawan during the swearing ceremony of Ajit Pawar and eight others who joined the NDA on Sunday. 

"When there is a war between mind and heart, listen to your heart. Perhaps the mind sometimes forgets morality... but the heart never...I'm with Saheb," Kolhe said in a tweet on Monday.

In a dramatic turn of events, Ajit Pawar along with eight NCP MLAs joined the Shinde-Fadnavis government in Maharashtra. Ajit Pawar, who was upset with the party leadership over his role, said almost all party MLAs were backing him and that he had informed Sharad Pawar. However, Pawar said he was unaware and that the majority of MLAs were with him.    

Today again, Sharad Pawar said many leaders from Ajit Pawar's camp called him and said that their ideology was not different from that of NCP "and they will take a final call in the next few days".

Meanwhile, the NCP has moved a petition before Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar, seeking the disqualification of Ajit Pawar and eight other MLAs who took oath as ministers in the Eknath Shinde-led government on Sunday.

The NCP's disciplinary committee has also passed a resolution to disqualify the nine MLAs. The committee chief, Jaiprakash Dandegaonkar, submitted a report to Sharad Pawar late Sunday evening after passing the resolution. "These actions of the nine MLAs call for immediate disqualification as not only are such defections ipso facto seriously damaging to the party but also that if allowed to continue as members, there is a very real likelihood that they will continue to try and undermine the interests of the party," the resolution said.

The resolution further said that these defections were done in a secretive manner, without the knowledge or consent of the party president, which amounted to desertion of the party. "We take cognisance of the same and direct appropriate steps may be taken in accordance with the party constitution and rules as also the tenth schedule of the Constitution of India. As per the procedure, party president Sharad Pawar has been informed and consulted for the same,” the resolution said.

Besides Ajit Pawar, the eight MLAs who have joined the ruling government are Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse Patil, Dhananjay Munde, Hasan Mushrif, Dharmobaba Atram, Aditi Tatkare, Sanjay Bansode, and Anil Patil.