"We will see huge supporters joining Sharad Pawar": NCP leader Anil Deshmukh

Ahead of the meeting called by two factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in Maharashtra, Former Maharashtra Home Minister and NCP leader Anil Deshmukh on Wednesday said that they'd see huge supporters joining NCP chief Sharad Pawar. Talking to the media at YB Chavan Centre, Deshmukh said, "We will see a huge number of supporters joining Sharad Pawar when he will go out of Maharashtra". Two crucial meetings are going to held in Mumbai that will decide the political fate of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), formed in 1999. While senior Pawar is banking on the 83-year-old's experience and popularity, junior Pawar has reportedly asked the NCP MLAs to make a "practical decision". Of the 53 MLAs, over 30 MLAs are present at Ajit Pawar's camp meeting at the MET Bandra college in Mumbai today.

The separate meetings could be a turning point in the battle for the ‘real’ NCP. Sharad Pawar on Monday expelled MPs Sunil Tatkare and Praful Patel for “anti-party activities”. Nine other NCP leaders have also joined the Maharashtra government as ministers. The first cabinet meeting of the three-parties coalition between Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, BJP and NCP led by Ajit Pawar was held at Mantralaya, where portfolio distribution was discussed. In a surprise move on July 2nd  NCP leader Ajit Pawar who was also the Maharashtra Leader of Opposition joined the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance in Maharashtra and took oath as Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister. The move by NCP chief Sharad Pawar's nephew Ajit Pawar, which also saw eight other NCP MLAs joining the Shinde-Fadnavis government, came amid efforts by opposition parties to forge unity to take on the BJP in the next year's Lok Sabha polls.