With Maharashtra’s electorate yet to recover from the shock of rebel Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar’s sudden alignment with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), two consecutive ‘surprise’ calls by the rebel faction on NCP chief Sharad Pawar have stupefied political pundits.
On July 15, nearly two weeks after being sworn-in as Deputy CM and splitting the NCP, Ajit Pawar had visited his uncle Sharad Pawar’s ‘Silver Oak’ residence in Mumbai to meet his aunt and Mr. Pawar’s wife, Pratibha, who was discharged after recently undergoing a surgery.
While this was justified as a courtesy call (given Ajit’s closeness to his aunt), the younger Mr. Pawar then paid two unscheduled calls to his uncle at Mumbai’s Y.B. Chavan Center on July 16 and 17, accompanied first by the Ministers of his rebel NCP faction and then by the rebel MLAs.
