Ajit Pawar removed as NCP legislative party leader after Maharashtra coup

Mumbai : Ajit Pawar has been removed as the NCP legislative party leader hours after he took oath as Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, along with the BJP's Devendra Fadnavis who was sworn in as the Chief Minister for a second consecutive term.

The action came shortly after Sharad Pawar announced that his nephew Ajit Pawar has gone rogue and said he has taken a personal decision not supported by the party.

According to the known information, Ajit Pawar handed over letters of support from all 54 NCP MLAs to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari before being sworn in.

Ajit Pawar had been a part of several meetings conducted to form Sena-NCP- Congress alliance and was with his uncle in most of the meetings.

Even last night, Ajit Pawar had attended the first joint meeting of the Sena, NCP and Congress. According to the Sena's Sanjay Raut, Ajit Pawar's "body language" had been suspicious and he had vanished shortly afterwards, with his phone unavailable.

Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule said in WhatsApp messages that she felt "betrayed" and her family and party had split.