NCP chief Sharad Pawar denies support to Ajit Pawar and other rebel MLAs, says 'not a new thing'

Furious over the move, the supporters of NCP are staging multiple protests burning pictures of the rebel MLAs. They also smeared black ink on the posters of party leaders who joined the NDA government today.

The NCP chief said that he was not worried about what has happened today, "the NCP is intact...our family is intact. The swearing in won't affect us (NCP) in any manner whatsoever. Those who left the party are vanquished. I am worried about their future."

"I am receiving several calls from a lot of people, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, WB CM Mamata Banerjee and others have called me. I am not worried about whatever happened today. Tomorrow, I will take the blessings of YB Chavan (former Maharashtra CM) and will hold a public meeting," he further said.

Hitting at Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling NCP a corrupt party, Pawar said sarcastically that the recent move shows PM Modi has given a clean chit to NCP and all the charges against the said MLAs have been cleared.

"Two days ago the PM had said about NCP... He had said two things in his statement that NCP is a finished party. He mentioned irrigation complaint and allegations of corruption. I am happy that some of my colleagues have taken oath. From this (joining the NDA government) it is clear that all the charges have been cleared. I am thankful to him," he said. "A new picture will be released in next 2-3 days and people of Maharashtra will get to know the reality," Pawar added.

The NCP chief has appointed Jitendra Ahwad next leader of opposition replacing Ajit Pawar and said that the party will soon sit with Congress and Uddhav Thackeray to access the situation. "In the next two-three days, we will sit with Congress and Uddhav Thackeray to access the situation. Our main strength is the common people, they have elected us," he said.

Ajit Pawar took oath as the deputy chief minister for the second time in four years. The move comes just days after Pawar had publically expressed his desire to step down as Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly.

As the sources told PTI, Ajit has the backing of 40 NCP MLAs and 6 NCP MLCs. Other NCP leaders who took oath were Dilip Walse Patil, Chhagan Bhujbal, Hassan Mushrif, Dharmarao Baba Atram, Aditi Sunil Tatkare, Sanjay Bansode, Anil Patil and Dhananjay Munde.

With the recent development, the state will have two deputy chief ministers — Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar.