Where have all the NCP MLAs gone?

Nationalist Congress Partyrsquos coup leader Ajit Pawar persisted with his efforts albeit unsuccessfully to win over his uncle Sharad Pawar on the second consecutive day After taking his ministerial colleagues to his uncle on Sunday he led the legislators who had sided with him in the rebellion to meet Pawar senior at YB Chavan Centre on MondayThe visit took place soon after the first days business of the monsoon session of the legislature closed amid speculations that neither group had been able to prove its majority in the houseThe visitors claimed that like Sunday they had arrived unannounced to meet the octogenarian The visit followed a perplexing situation at the Legislative Assembly where all sights were set on the lower house benches One could see 15 MLAs including nine ministers seated on the ruling side while the rival groups 10 sat opposite them That left 28 missing 27 if Nawab Malik who is in jail is excluded The NCP has 53 MLAs Some 35 MLAs and five MLCs out of eight had attended Ajits conclave after the coup The rebel group needs twothirds of the partys total strength to avoid disqualification from the house It has already notified the Election Commission about claiming the partys name and symbol The whip war is expected to be seen in the ongoing sessionDeputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and his supporters at YB Chavan Centre on Monday PicAshish RajeSo far there is no authentic information available on whether Ajit now part of the BJPSena ShindeNCP rebel Mahayuti has twothirds of the partys aggregate The rival group too hasnt made any claim except for a letter to the Speaker that demanded a separate sitting arrangement for the defector ministers The division was seen on the first day although it did not give a clear picture Both sides said a real picture would be seen in days to comeAjitrsquos accompaniment his factions working president Praful Patel and state unit president Sunil Tatkare did the talking while the DyCM took a backseat in front of the media personslsquoMade the same requestrsquoPatel said he had no way to understand what was on Sharad Pawars mind ldquoLike yesterday we understood that Pawar saheb would come to YB Chavan Centre We came here without seeking his time and requested just like yesterday that the party be kept intact We requested him to find a wayrdquo said Patel after the meetingInsisting that the NCP family was still intact Tatkare said his party colleagues did not worry much about what other parties had said about their consecutive visits to their leader and deity ldquoI know many things about the Congress and I can tell you about it here I think no other party has the right to comment on happenings in our partyrdquo he said about the Congressrsquo criticism of their visitShiv Sena UBT leader Sanjay Raut had said that his party leadership would never meet the rebels and ask them to lsquoget outrsquo if they gatecrashed like the Ajit factionAsked by a section of the media later on Monday Ajit Pawar left without commenting on the development However he had said at the presession press conference on Sunday that the people outside NCP and in the media should not worry much about his partyPawar unmoved PatilIn a bid to clear the air from the Pawar seniors side Jayant Patil also addressed a media conference ldquoAll MLAs touched Pawar Sahebs feet to seek his blessings and repeated a request that the ministers had made on Sundayrdquo he said clarifying that the lsquounscheduledrsquo meetings had not raised any questions about Pawar seniorrsquos stand that he would in no way go with the Bharatiya Janata PartyAccording to insiders Pawar had told the visitors and his loyalists that he would not change his stand notwithstanding how many people meet him to convince himPatil added ldquoItrsquos no big deal if the people whose political career has been shaped by Pawar saheb visit him Its a large NCP family of which some have taken the wrong step There is no need for others to get restive over thisrdquo He maintained that the rebel group had repeatedly urged the party boss to find a way out to resolve the situation that has arisen because of a coup by select MLAsPatil said that the people who had made unpleasant statements such as demanding the ageing party bossrsquo retirement about Pawar senior were also among the visitors who had arrived without intimation ldquoPawar saheb asked me to join him when the visitors came calling I said I may be late and he could begin the talks in the meantime But he said no way He met them only after I arrived thererdquo he stated further clearly indicating that Pawar was being transparent with his loyalists who might get confused if such meetings happened in their absenceNDA for Ajit uncle in OppnOn Tuesday the Pawars are expected to go in opposite directions While the uncle will be attending the Oppositions joint conclave in Bangalore Ajit has been invited to attend the National Democratic Alliance NDA meeting in New Delhi Pawar skipped the first days proceedings in Bangalore in view of the states legislative session and meeting of his loyalist MLAsPatil said many NCP legislators were absent in Mondays legislative business because they could not travel in the heavy rain to Mumbai ldquoAll questions will be answered as the session progressesrdquo he said35No of NCP MLAs who attended Ajitrsquos conclave53Total no of NCP MLAs