Shinde-Ajit exchange on oath-taking leads to laughter at Mahayuti presser   

The press conference of the Mahayuti allies here after they staked claim to form government in Maharashtra witnessed some banter thanks to Ajit Pawar, a ‘veteran’ deputy chief minister.

After it became clear that Devendra Fadnavis would be sworn in as chief minister, the question on everyone's mind was whether Eknath Shinde would agree to become his deputy, as the Sena chief has given enough hints that he was not happy after ceding the top post to the BJP.

Fadnavis said he called on Shinde, who was chief minister for the last two-and-half years, last evening and invited him to join the new government.

When Shinde, sitting between Fadnavis and Pawar at the press conference, was asked whether he would take oath as deputy CM, he was evasive, saying, "Wait till evening."

Ajit Pawar, sitting on his left, immediately cut in and said, "Don't know about him, but I am taking oath tomorrow." It drew laughter.

Not to be outdone, Shinde quipped, "Ajit dada (as Pawar is called) has experience of taking oath in the morning as well as in the evening." It evoked a guffaw.

Pawar then said, "It was short-lived. This time it would last for five years."

Ajit Pawar famously took oath as Fadnavis's deputy one early morning in November 2019 after the Shiv Sena broke off its alliance with the BJP following the election results.

But the Fadnavis-Pawar government lasted only three days as Pawar failed to get the backing of enough MLAs of the Nationalist Congress Party, then headed by his uncle Sharad Pawar.

Ajit, however, became deputy CM in the Sena-Congress-NCP government led by Uddhav Thackeray. After the Thackeray government collapsed due to Shinde's rebellion, Ajit Pawar once again sprang a surprise and joined the Shinde-led government as deputy CM.

Prior to 2014, when the Congress-NCP combine ruled Maharashtra for 15 years, Ajit Pawar was deputy CM twice. But the top post has always eluded him.