Ajit Pawar, rebel NCP leaders meet Sharad Pawar for second time in 24 hours

On Sunday, the Ajit Pawar camp had held an unscheduled meeting with Sharad Pawar at the YB Chavan Centre in Mumbai

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and 15 Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) ministers of his faction met party president Sharad Pawar for the second time on Monday at the YB Chavan Centre in Mumbai.

This is the second meeting of Ajit Pawar and his MLAs with the NCP supremo in two days.

After attending the meeting, senior NCP leader Praful Patel said, "Today, Ajit Pawar, Sunil Tatkare and I met Sharad Pawar. We again requested him to keep the NCP united. He listened to us but did not say anything."

On the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) meeting to be held in Delhi on July 18, Patel said that both he and Ajit Pawar would be attending the meet.

Meanwhile, Sharad Pawar is expected to attend the Opposition meeting that is being hosted by the Congress in Bengaluru on the same day.

Ajit Pawar and his rebel ministers are trying to convince the NCP president into joining the NDA.

Ajit Pawar has claimed that he has the support of around 40 of the 53 NCP MLAs. Patel added that while only NCP ministers met the party chief on Sunday, many NCP MLAs were present during Monday's meeting.

On Sunday, the Ajit Pawar camp had held an unscheduled meeting with Sharad Pawar at the YB Chavan Centre. This was the first meeting between Sharad Pawar and the group led by Ajit Pawar after he rebelled against his uncle.

Patel, who was present at the meeting on Sunday as well, said the leaders had met Sharad Pawar and urged him to keep the party united.

"We came here without asking for any appointment. We requested Pawar sahib that the NCP should stay united. On this, Sharad Pawar did not give any reaction but he listened to us carefully."

After the meeting on Sunday, Sharad Pawar had said that he cannot support the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and will continue with his "progressive politics".

On Sunday, Sharad met youth wing workers from Nashik. The 82-year-old politician reaffirmed the NCP's ideology, emphasising their opposition to the "divisive politics of the BJP".

He urged the youth workers to stand firm on the principles of inclusivity, equality, secularism, and democracy.

On July 2, Ajit Pawar and eight MLAs joined the Eknath Shinde government.

Ajit Pawar was made deputy chief minister, while the eight MLAs were sworn in as ministers in the Maharashtra government.