Ajit Pawar set to be Maharashtra deputy CM, likely to take oath on December 30: Reports

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar is set to be the Deputy Chief Minister of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, media reports said on Tuesday.

Pawar, the nephew of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, is likely to take oath on December 30.

Ajit was earlier sworn in along with BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis in a hush-hush early morning ceremony in November, when the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress were in the final stages of the government formation talks in the state.

However, Pawar's term lasted only 80 hours as he could not bring more MLAs from his party to ensure a BJP-NCP coalition government in Maharashtra.

After resigning and coming back to the NCP



ranks, Ajit attended Uddhav Thackeray's oath ceremony on November 28 but was not sworn in, a move which his uncle Sharad Pawar dubbed a "conscious decision". 

It is said that the decision on Pawar was taken on Monday evening in a meeting between Uddhav and Sharad. The Congress did not attend the meeting.

On Tuesday, NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik reiterated that his party workers want Ajit to become the Deputy Chief Minister of the state.

"In Maharashtra, cabinet expansion will be done soon. Who will get what responsibility will be decided by the Chief Minister. It is a wish of NCP party workers that Ajit should become the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra," Malik informed the media.