'No truth in this news': Ajit Pawar on replacing Eknath Shinde as the next CM

Maharashtra politics takes a new turn everyday. It started with split in Shiv Sena leading to fall of Uddhav Thackeray government in 2022 to now split in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) when Ajit Pawar took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. In a latest update, Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar has reacted to claims of him being soon appointed as the next CM of Maharashtra. Speaking on the speculations, Pawar said, There is no truth in this news... I think only about development," news agency ANI reported.Ajit, along with eight other NCP legislators, rebelled against his uncle, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, and joined the Shinde government on July 2. His faction has been claiming the support of up to 40 MLAs. Leaders close to Ajit claimed that he had been assured the top post by the BJP in return for splitting the NCP. 
Sanjay Raut had earlier, said that Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar would soon replace Chief

Minister Eknath Shinde in Maharashtra. The Shiv Sena leader also mentioned that 16 MLAs who had previously split from Shiv Sena would face disqualification. These remarks followed Ajit Pawar's joining of the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance and subsequent swearing-in as deputy chief minister."Today I am saying this in front of the camera, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra is going to change. Eknath Shinde is being removed. Eknath Shinde and the 16 MLAs are going to be disqualified," Raut told ANI.The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), according to Raut, brought in Ajit Pawar as part of their crisis management strategy due to the imminent disqualification of the 16 MLAs. Raut asserted that Ajit Pawar would eventually replace Eknath Shinde as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. He also stated that the Shiv Sena, NCP, and Congress would fight together in the state."BJP is breaking Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress but this will not benefit them at all. In Maharashtra, we will fight unitedly. It is shocking that PM Modi had said that the leaders of NCP are involved in corruption and now those leaders have taken oath in Raj Bhawan," ANI quoted Raut as saying. The split within the Shiv Sena occurred in June 2022 when a group of MLAs, led by Eknath Shinde, rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray's decision to form an alliance with the Congress and NCP. This rebellion caused a division within the party.