In another Maha twist, Ajit splits NCP, becomes Dy CM

That Ajit Pawar was getting ready to align with the Bharatiya Janata Party in Maharashtra has been known for some time - yet, when it did happen on Sunday, it still managed to take everyone by surprise.

- Shailesh Gaikwad and Faisal Malik

In a few hours, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) had seemingly changed hands, Maharashtra had one more deputy chief minister, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), one more ally for 2024.

For the grouping-in-the-making of opposition parties that hope to take the fight to the BJP in 2024, Sunday's developments were a setback. The events also raise serious questions about the future of the non-Ajit Pawar section of the NCP.

In some ways, though, Sunday's events were only to be expected in a state where, since 2019, stunning somersaults have become the leitmotif of local politics. If it started with the Shiv Sena breaking up with its long-term ally after the 2019 state polls, the latest chapter (the book is far from over) saw Ajit Pawar being sworn in along with eight other NCP leaders.

The NCP split comes exactly a year after the cleaving of the Shiv Sena, and it was executed with similar stealth and precision. At least 37 of the NCP's 53 MLAs have gone with Ajit Pawar, and more are likely to follow.

Raj Bhavan staff were alerted only a couple of hours before the swearing-in and such was the  haste that even families of most ministers who took oath did not have time to reach Raj Bhavan for the ceremony. A senior BJP leader said the decision to induct Ajit Pawar in the state cabinet was taken last week by Union home minister Amit Shah in consultation with Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.