Sharad Pawar's tweet 'saves the day' for Kerala NCP

A tweet from NCP chief Sharad Pawar that he has no clue about what happened between his nephew Ajit Pawar and the BJP after they joined hands to form the new government in Maharashtra on Saturday morning has saved the Kerala unit of the NCP, an ally of the CPI-M led Left government.

Expressing surprise, T.P. Peethamabran, the most popular NCP leader in Kerala, told the media that Sharad Pawar had no inkling of what transpired between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Ajit Pawar.

"These are all underground operations and now definitely, Ajit Pawar will have to face action from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). We are waiting to hear from Sharad Pawar," said Peethamabran.

Kerala NCP has three legislators and one of them -- A.K. Saseendran is a cabinet minister in the Pinarayi Vijayan cabinet.

With Sharad Pawar 'feigning' ignorance of what happened, the Kerala unit can breathe easy, if not their existence in the Left Democratic Front could have come under threat.

The lone Keralite in the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led cabinet, V. Muraleedharan welcomed the new BJP-led government in Maharashtra.

"This is a big blow to the subversive politics of the Congress which was playing dirty politics, if not a pre poll alliance between the BJP and Shiv Sena would have assumed office, soon after the polls," said Muraleedharan.

On Saturday morning, in a stunning political development, Maharashtra Governor B.S. Koshyari administered the oath of office to BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis as the new Chief Minister of Maharashtra and NCP leader Ajit Pawar as the new Deputy Chief Minister.

The two were sworn-in at a function in the Raj Bhavan held around 8 a.m. in the presence of a few BJP and NCP leaders, and other government officials.
 

IANS