Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray lamented the political environment in Maharashtra and said Ajit Pawar's move today was the first act of a process to "discard the burden of Uddhav Thackeray". "The first team from the NCP camp has left to join hands with power. The remaining team will join in soon," he said."The Maharashtra BJP was not liking the unnecessary importance being given to Eknath Shinde and they have now found a counter to him. What this has highlighted is the muddied political environment in Maharashtra. I feel heartbroken to see the political state or Maharashtra which has provided direction to the country," he said.
Nationalist Congress Party's senior leader Ajit Pawar joined the Maharashtra government as CM Eknath Shinde's deputy on Sunday. After Pawar, senior NCP leaders Dilip Walse Patil, Chhagan Bhujbal were among other eight leaders to take oath as ministers in the Shinde cabinet. The development came as Pawar met some party leaders and MLAs at his official residence in Mumbai earlier. Later, he reached Raj Bhawan, where the swearing ceremony took place in the presence of CM Shinde, deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis and governor Ramesh Bais, as well as supporters of Shinde faction and the BJP.
Earlier, Pawar announced that he wanted to step down as Leader of the Opposition in Maharashtra and would like any party post. “I was never interested in working as Leader of Opposition but accepted the role on demand of the party MLAs. Assign me any post in the party organisation and I will do complete justice to whatever responsibility given to me,” he had said at a party event on Wednesday.