Ajit Pawar takes oath as second Deputy CM of Maharashtra

Maha deputy CM Ajit Pawar

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar, who had recently offered to resign as LoP (Leader of Opposition), took oath as Maharashtra's second deputy chief minister on July 2, with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and existing Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in attendance.

This is the third time in four years that Ajit Pawar has taken oath oath as deputy chief minister.

Former Maharashtra Home Minister and NCP leader Dilip Walse Patil also took oath as Maharashtra Minister. NCP leader Hasan Mushrif, the Kolhapur MLA, also was sworn in as a minister in Maharashtra Cabinet.

New 18 reported earlier in the day that Pawar reached Raj Bhawan, accompanied by 29 NCP MLAs, including Chhagan Bhujbal, Praful Patel and Hasan Mushrif.

Read our live blog on the Maharashtra development here

Pawar's swearing-in follows rumors of his discontentment over not being appointed as the NCP's state unit chief. The meeting, originally scheduled for July 6 with the presence of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, who is currently in Pune, has been moved forward.

Further behind the scene, the primary cause of the division appears to be discontent among Ajit Pawar's followers towards Supriya Sule and Sharad Pawar. This dissatisfaction arose when they attended a gathering of opposition leaders in Patna and shared the platform with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

Reacting to the development, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi tweeted, "Principles be damned, BJP should be the last party in the country talking about ideological alliances. They are just political opportunists wanting power at any cost. With the latest development in Maharashtra, those MLAs who were corrupt & were jailed are now being sworn in as ministers!"