We have the support of 54 NCP MLAs, Fadnavis government tells SC

• The BJP government submitted two letters to the Supreme Court, one of them include the letter submitted by Devendra Fadnavis to the governor.
  
• Ajit Pawar, the deputy CM tweeted that NCP and BJP alliance will stay on.
  
• Sharad Pawar too tweeted and said that Ajit Pawar’s tweet is misleading and that they are with Sena.
  

The BJP government submitted two letters to the Supreme Court, one of them include the letter submitted by Devendra Fadnavis to the governor. The letter had 54 signatures of NCP MLAs, and current deputy CM Ajit Pawar’s assurance that he will support the government for a stable government.

Therefore, the governor had no reason to disbelieve the letter, said Solicitor General. Mukul Rogatgi, the advocate on behalf of the CM Fadnavis asserted to the court that they are ready for a floor test.

The Shiv Sena an alliance-turned-ally of BJP filed a case against BJP government calling the move of the governor to swear in Devendra Fadnavis as the chief minister in the early hours of November 23 (Saturday)-- as illegal. In a shocking move, Ajit Pawar of NCP decided to support the BJP even as his uncle Sharad Pawar the founder of NCP, sided with Shiv Sena.

Maharashtra political twist

BJP won 102 seats in the recent assembly elections but need a partner to reach the magic number of 145, to form the government. While Sena had won 56 seats, NCP won 54 seats and Congress won 44 seats. As Sena and BJP disagreed on seat sharing, endless discussions and delays led to a President’s rule in the state.

Ajit Pawar had decided not to U-turn yet again as widely expected. Siding with the BJP and Modi, he tweeted on Sunday that the BJP and NCP alliance will stay. This confused the already dazed voters of Maharashtra, who were under the assumption that Pawar had broken away from his mother party, led by his uncle Sharad Pawar.

To clear the air, Sharad Pawar tweeted that Ajit Pawar’s message was misleading and that they still with the Sena. But the confusion over whose government will stand and who will fall is still unknown.


Ajit Pawar decided to step away from his personal residence — where he had a flurry of NCP, BJP and Congress party leaders visit him all day — late in the night. The current chief minister Fadnavis too held a long discussion with deputy CM Ajit Pawar over bringing in the much needed 145 MLAs to form the government.

In a dramatic turn of events, Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar were sworn in as chief minister and deputy chief minister respectively by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at 8 am on Saturday at a hush-hush ceremony in Raj Bhavan here, leading to the lifting of the President's rule in the state.