A day after attending the swearing-in ceremony of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar at Raj Bhavan, party’s MLA from Wai in Satara district, Makarand Patil, on Monday morning took a U-turn and joined party president Sharad Pawar.
Pawar, who had left Pune for Karad at 8 am in the morning, was joined by Patil at Shirwal town and welcomed him. Pawar accepted his bouquet and took him inside the car on his way to Karad.
Patil remained with Pawar throughout the day and even sat next to the NCP president at his press conference in Satara.
When asked about his stand, Patil replied in a single sentence. “You all can see where I am sitting through the day,” he said.
Similarly, NCP MLA from Shahapur, Daulat Daroda, too has declared that he will be with Sharad Pawar.
Prior to 2019, Daroda was with Shiv Sena and he had left the party citing differences with Eknath Shinde, who was handling matters of the party in Thane district.
Daroda said he cannot side with a government where Shinde is a chief minister. “This cannot happen. I am with Sharad Pawar,” he said.