Mumbai: Sharad Pawar, leader of the NCP, has issued a whip to all MLAs, requiring their presence at a crucial meeting in Mumbai on Wednesday. While, Ajit Pawar, deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, has convened a separate gathering of party legislators in Mumbai.
Sharad Pawar has called for an emergency meeting of all MLAs to be held at the Y B Chavan Centre on Tuesday, July 5, at 1 p.m., according to a one-line whip sent by Sharad Pawar's chief whip, Jitendra Awhad, on Tuesday.
After his nephew Ajit Pawar and eight other MLAs joined the Shiv Sena-BJP coalition on Sunday, Pawar senior appointed Awhad as chief whip.
On Tuesday, the Ajit Pawar camp sent out an invitation to all current and former legislators, parliamentarians, office-bearers, working committee members, and others for a meeting on Wednesday at the MET institute in suburban Bandra, which would be presided over by Sunil Tatkare, the group's newly appointed Maharashtra unit president.
The notice was issued by Shivajirao Garje, who has been expelled by the Sharad Pawar-led party for "indulging in anti-party activities".
The Ajit Pawar camp has requested to Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly Rahul Narwekar to remove Jayant Patil, the state NCP president, and Jitendra Awhad from their positions as legislators.
On Monday, Anil Bhaidas Patil, who took his oath as a minister on Sunday, continued in his role as party whip in the Assembly after being chosen by Praful Patel, the former working president of the NCP who was expelled from the party by Sharad Pawar.
Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party has filed a petition to Speaker Narwekar seeking to have Ajit Pawar and eight other MLAs disqualified from working as ministers in the government of Eknath Shinde.
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has 53 members of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. —Inputs from Agencies