MUMBAI: Dealing a massive blow to his political mentor and uncle Sharad Pawar, NCP's Ajit Pawar Sunday joined the Shinde-Fadnavis government as deputy CM, inaugurating yet another chapter of the dizzying drama that has engulfed Maharashtra's politics for the past four years ever since MVA was formed and especially since Eknath Shinde sensationally caused the collapse of the MVA regime by breaking away from the Uddhav Thackeray camp a year ago.Read AlsoSupreme irony for Sena camp as their 'tormentor' returns to cabinetNCP leader Ajit Pawar's induction in the Eknath Shinde-helmed state cabinet couldn't be more ironic.

Shinde and the 39 MLAs, who raised a rebellion in the Shiv Sena, had last year blamed Ajit Pawar, as the then finance minister, of not allocating funds for their constituencies.

Moreover, they hadLoss of Praful Patel, his most trusted hand and crisis manager, personal blow to Sharad PawarThe switch made by Patel, considered Sharad Pawar's most trusted ally, one who has never taken a political decision without his mentor's knowledge, is being viewed as a personal setback for the NCP president.

"I am not upset with anybody except Praful Patel and Tatkare," said Pawar.Ajit Pawar, Bhujbal among five NCP stalwarts under ED lensAt least five prominent faces in deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar's team, which includes him, are under the scanner of ED for separate money laundering cases that range from bank loan fraud and corruption to fraudulent land transactions and also transactions linked to late drug smuggler IqbalAjit (63) took oath at Raj Bhavan along with eight other NCP legislators.

Among them were the party's heavyweights and party founder and president Sharad Pawar's long-time aides like Dilip Walse Patil, Chhagan Bhujbal, Dhananjay Munde and Hasan Mushrif.By Ajit's side in this second rebellion of his - after his first one in November 2019 that fizzled out in just a couple of days - was Praful Patel, one of Pawar Senior's oldest and closest associates who was recently anointed as NCP working president along with Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule.Ajit submitted a list of 40 supporting NCP MLAs to governor Ramesh Bais.

NCP has 54 MLAs in all in the assembly.

Ajit is soon likely to move the EC to get the party's name and symbol, sources said.Ajit’s gameplan in the works for a yearAjit Pawar has followed the Eknath Shinde pattern, claiming he represents NCP and has the support of "everyone" from the party, though his uncle, Sharad Pawar, termed his act as "robbery" instead of rebellion and vowed to fight back.

Ajit's disaffection at being sidelined in the party had not been a secret, but things came to a head in the past couple of months with Sharad Pawar first tendering his surprise resignation as party president in the first week of May, apparently to quell the intra-party rebellion that was brewing with Ajit at its helm, and later, after withdrawing his resignation, making Sule the working president and thus handing out a fresh snub to Ajit.

Ajit had been drafting a strategy to take on his uncle and cousin Supriya for a year, sources said.

In fact, when Sharad Pawar announced his resignation at the Y B Chavan Centre in Mumbai, Ajit was the only NCP leader to state unequivocally, at a time other party leaders were imploring Sharad Pawar not to quit, that the resignation should be accepted to pave the way for a new leadership.

Last month, on the occasion of the party's anniversary, Ajit asked Sharad Pawar to relieve him of the post of leader of opposition in the assembly and to give him an organisational task instead.

In the same speech, he launched an oblique attack against the NCP's leadership over the party's failure to form a government on its own in Maharashtra.

Ajit had then pointed out that politicians who had emerged in the past two decades had made tremendous political progress while NCP had lagged behind.

He cited the examples of Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Telangana CM K Chandrashekhar Rao and Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy to underline his point, saying that Mamata had retained power though PM Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah had campaigned against her and Kejriwal had won a second successive term despite being a relatively new entrant in politics.

Further, targeting Jayant Patil who has held the post of NCP's state unit president for over five years, he had said, "We have a tall leader like Sharad Pawar, but despite that we were not able to form government.

It calls for self-introspection and corrective steps.

It is high time the entire organisation is revamped as top priority."03:58Explained: First Shiv Sena, now NCP, here is how BJP turned the tables on MVA in Maharashtra According to reports, Ajit had set July 1 as the deadline for his own appointment as state NCP president, and when Sharad Pawar failed to sack Jayant Patil, he implemented his plan drafted a month ago to join the Shinde-Fadnavis government.

Apart from Ajit, Bhujbal, Walse Patil and Mushrif, the other NCP legislators sworn in on Sunday were Dhananjay Munde, Aditi Tatkare, Dharmarao Atram, Anil Patil and Sanjay Bansode.06:07Ajit Pawar claims support of 'almost all NCP MLAs', lauds Modi govt as he joins state govt Deputy speaker of the assembly Narhari Zirwal and NCP MP Amol Kolhe were among the party functionaries present at Raj Bhavan for the swearing-in.

Before the oath-taking function, agencies reported, Ajit Pawar met some party leaders and MLAs at his official residence 'Devgiri' in Mumbai.

Bhujbal and the party's working president Supriya Sule were among the leaders present at that meeting.

However, Sule left the meeting early, agencies reported.03:17NCP supporters smear black ink on posters of leaders who joined Eknath Shinde Govt The new political temblor in the state came just days after Shinde on June 30 completed a year in office as CM in the Shiv Sena-BJP government, with Devendra Fadnavis as his deputy.

The state now has two deputy CMs.

Shinde described his government as a "triple engine" one now with Ajit's NCP too on board.

Elections to the 288-member Maharashtra assembly are due next year.06:54Not 'googly', it is a robbery, Sharad Pawar on Ajit Pawar joining NDA After the 2019 Maharashtra assembly polls, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena had snapped ties with long-term ally BJP.

Before the MVA government comprising Sena, NCP and Congress could be formed, Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar were sworn in as chief minister and deputy CM respectively in a hush-hush early-morning ceremony, but their government lasted only 80 hours.

With Sunday's swearing-in, Ajit Pawar has become deputy CM for the fifth time in his political career, this time obviously with the expectation that the 2019 stumble is well and truly behind him.03:05Devendra Fadnavis' 2014 'Chakki Peesing - Peesing' remark on Ajit Pawar goes viral againCongress, NCP to hold meets on July 4 and 5NCP president Sharad Pawar has called a meeting of NCP legislators and office bearers on July 5, while Congress legislature party leader Balasaheb Thorat has called a meeting of Congress legislators on July 4 to take stock of current political situation .

State NCP president Jayant Patil said the party does not approve the swearing-in of a section of NCP legislators.‘‘We are condemning their decision to join the government,” Patil said.03:12Explained: What led Ajit Pawar to ditch uncle Sharad Pawar?WatchMaharashtra Politics: NCP leader Ajit Pawar joins Shinde govt; takes oath as Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister