Ajit Pawar on Sunday took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, a move he claimed has the backing of “all MLAs” of the Nationalist Congress Party. While nephew Ajit’s rebellion against his uncle and NCP supremo Sharad Pawar has the support of at least 29 of the 53 party MLAs, the BJP has claimed that the number will rise to 40 MLAs and some MLCs.

Speaking to the media after Ajit Pawar’s swearing-in, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said he has spoken to Sharad Pawar. “I just had a talk with Mr. Sharad Pawar. He said ‘I am strong. We have the support of the people. We will rebuild everything again with Uddhav Thackeray.’ Yes, people will not tolerate this game for long,” Raut said.

Also Read: ‘All NCP MLAs with me’, says Ajit Pawar after taking oath as Deputy CM of Maharashtra

The NCP, meanwhile, has claimed that Ajit Pawar’s actions did not have Sharad Pawar’s ‘blessings’. NCP chief spokesperson Mahesh Tapase termed the swearing-in ceremony a part of BJP’s ‘Operation Lotus’

“All the leaders, workers, district presidents and frontal organizations are with the NCP chief Sharad Pawar. The party does not support the swearing-in ceremony officially. It is part of ‘Operation Lotus’. Leaders have taken oaths in their individual capacity,” Tapase said in a statement.

Also Read: Maharashtra: Ajit Pawar does an Eknath Shinde to NCP in 2019 deja vu

The big question now is whether the NCP can legally seek the disqualification of the NCP leaders who joined the NDA government. While indications are that Sharad Pawar may move to get the rebel leaders disqualified, experts would be well-advised to watch senior Pawar’s next steps very closely.

After all, the 2019 rebellion led by Ajit, which the NCP claimed had no role in, was also engineered by Sharad Pawar, by his own admission. On Friday, Pawar admitted that the NCP was in talks with the BJP for government formation and backed out at the last moment. Pawar claimed that he had only done it to “expose” how far the BJP would go to cling on to power.

Meanwhile, Ajit Pawar and newly-appointed ministers backing him claim that there is no split in the NCP and that the Deputy CM’s decision to join the NDA government has the backing of all legislators.