Mumbai: Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar, backed by several MLAs, has joined the Maharashtra government as the deputy chief minister on Sunday. He will share the post with BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis.

The move comes days after Ajit Pawar expressed his desire to step down as Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly.

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A total of nine NCP leaders including Chhagan Bhujbal, Dhananjay Munde, Dilip Walse Patil took oath as ministers along with Ajit Pawar.

Sanjay Raut’s reaction on NCP split

In a tweet, Shiv Sena (UBT) Sanjay Raut said that he spoke to Sharad Pawar over phone and said that “people will not tolerate this game for long”.

“Some people have taken up the task of cleaning up Maharashtra politics. Let them have their way. I just had a talk with Sharad Pawar. He said “I am strong. We have the support of the people. We will rebuild everything again with Uddhav Thackeray.” Yes, people will not tolerate this game for long,” said Sanjay Raut.