NCP Maharashtra State President Jayant Patil asserts that the party would be represented by the state's next chief minister. This claim can lead to yet another fracture among the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance. The NCP will be represented as the state's next chief minister, according to Jayant Patil. The NCP is rapidly gaining momentum under Sharad Pawar's leadership, he said, and it will eventually overtake all other parties to become the dominant force in Maharashtra. The party with the most seats, which in 2019 was the Shiv Sena, decided the Chief Minister's position in the past. The NCP's claim to the position, however, may cause friction between its allies, the Congress and Shiv Sena, as the Congress has previously indicated similar intentions. This is because the seat-sharing deal has not yet been finalised.


What Jayant Patil Claimed?


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Patil, a seven-term MLA from Islampur Assembly constituency in Sangli said, "At present, the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and the NCP are getting huge support from people across the State. The satisfaction is that the next Chief Minister of Maharashtra will be from the NCP. This is now accepted by almost everyone. That’s how fast our party is moving forward… I am confident that under the leadership of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, the NCP will emerge as the largest party in the State in the future."


As a reputed Pawar supporter, Patil made his remarks at a time when Ajit Pawar's supporters were erecting billboards in numerous cities proclaiming Ajit Pawar to be the next chief minister. Ajit Pawar also openly declared his desire to become the CM in a recent interview. After the senior Pawar, Ajit Pawar is regarded as the second-ranking member of the party and has great influence over many MLAs. He recently expressed his displeasure with how the Shiv Sena (UBT) was portraying its leader Uddhav Thackeray as the MVA's (Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi) leader.


Refinery Controversy: Pawar Meets Protesters


On the other hand, Sharad Pawar, the leader of the nationalist Congress Party (NCP), met on Sunday with a group of anti-refinery protesters led by Satyajit Chavan. Chavan was taken into custody by Ratnagiri police on April 23, the day before soil sampling began at Barsu village in the coastal Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra, where one of the largest oil refineries in the world is likely to be built.


On Monday in the late afternoon, Pawar will have another meeting with the state's minister of industries, Uday Samant. Since the state government used police force to quash the villagers' opposition to the survey last week, Pawar and Samant have both met twice. Pawar had then instructed Samant to avoid using force, free those detained during protests, and first have negotiations with project opponents before moving forward. The police deployed tear gas to disperse protesters on Friday as tempers were fraying. Pawar tweeted that he was visited at the YB Chavan Centre in Mumbai by a group led by Satyajit Chavan. Jitendra Awhad, a leader of the NCP and a former state minister, attended the meeting as well. 


Chief Minister Eknath Shinde stated on Friday that the locals' approval is required before the proposed refinery project can move forward. Ajit Pawar, a senior NCP leader, stated on Saturday that it is important to make sure that development initiatives do not harm the environment. He encouraged the Maharashtra government to hold talks with all the interested parties and figure out the best course of action. Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Sanjay Raut, whose party is supporting the protesters, on Saturday claimed there was no coordination between Chief Minister Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis on the proposed refinery project.