The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s latest blitz in engineering a split in Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and taking his nephew Ajit Pawar on board has left the ruling Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction staring at a parlous political future.
The startling turn of events on Sunday which saw the sudden swearing in of Mr. Ajit Pawar and eight other NCP leaders has triggered speculation in political circles that this is but a prelude to a bigger move, that of making Mr. Ajit Pawar the next Chief Minister.