‘Ajit Pawar with us, Uddhav Thackeray to be CM’: Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut

In line with the twists and turns in Maharashtra politics, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Tuesday confirmed that NCP leader Ajit Pawar, who had in a dramatic volte-face backed the BJP, has resigned from his post of Deputy Chief Minister and is now with “us”.

“Ajit dada has resigned and he is with us. Uddhav Thackeray will be the Chief Minister of Maharashtra for five years,” Raut was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Pawar was sworn-in as the Deputy Chief Minister of the state on Saturday morning. The decision invoked vociferous criticism from the opposition which later moved to the Supreme Court.

Earlier on Tuesday, a three-judge bench headed by Justice Ramana passed the order for conducting floor test by tomorrow evening while giving a decision on a joint petition filed by Congress, Shiv Sena and NCP against Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s decision of administering an oath to Fadnavis as Chief Minister and NCP’s Ajit Pawar as his deputy during the early hours of Saturday.

Ajit Pawar, the 60-year-old NCP leader who took oath alongside Devendra Fadnavis as Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister, didn’t take charge of his new assignment on Monday and submitted his resignation.