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Stalin spoke to the Maharashtra leader over the phone and conveyed the DMK’s support to the NCP in taking on the BJP, sources said. On July 2, Sharad Pawar’s nephew and NCP leader Ajit Pawar led a split in the NCP, taking eight party MLAs with him to ally with the BJP in Maharashtra. He took oath as deputy chief minister and the eight NCP leaders were also sworn in as ministers in the alliance government led by the Shiv Sena breakaway Eknath Shinde and the BJP.
In May, when Sharad Pawar said he would step down as NCP chief, Stalin was among those who appealed to him to reconsider his decision, as the veteran leader’s heft would be required to forge a secular alliance ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Sharad Pawar eventually withdrew his decision — to resign from his position of national president of NCP — in deference to the sentiments of party workers and leaders.