Despite Being Sacked as Legislative Party Leader, Dy CM Ajit Says He's Still in NCP & Sharad Pawar His Leader; Urges Patience

New Delhi: Despite being removed as NCP legislative party leader, Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Sunday said that he's still a part of the Nationalist Congress Party and insisted that Sharad Pawar is his leader.

"I am in the NCP and shall always be in the NCP and @PawarSpeaks Saheb is our leader. Our BJP-NCP alliance shall provide a stable Government in Maharashtra for the next five years which will work sincerely for the welfare of the State and its people," he tweeted.

He further urged people to have "little patience" and assured that there was nothing to worry about. "There is absolutely no need to worry, all is well. However a little patience is required. Thank you very much for all your support," he added.

The latest tweet by Ajit Pawar has created flutter as political circles are still speculating if Sharad Pawar could be behind the move, despite him categorically stating that the decision to join hands with BJP was Ajit's "personal decision".

The speculations somewhere emerge from an incident in Karnataka 13 years ago, when the Congress-JDS government in the state, led by N Dharam Singh, collapsed overnight and a "breakaway" faction of the JDS led by party founder HD Deve Gowda's son HD Kumaraswamy formed a government with the BJP, its core ideological enemy.

Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, went into a silent mode communicating only through his trusted aides claiming that his son HDK has betrayed him by splitting the party and going with the "communal" BJP.

CM son HDK also wept in public for being "unfaithful" to his father. A few months later, the mask came off. Both the politicians and the people realised that they were being taken for a royal ride by father and son.

The son's "revolt" was actually father's brainchild. To make his son CM at any cost, former PM Gowda had made an elaborate plan to make it look like a "betrayal" by his own son.

During HDK's 20-month rule, Gowda was controlling many things from behind the scenes. When HDK was supposed to hand over the baton of CM to Yediyurappa, Gowda once again shocked everyone by asking him to betray the BJP.