In a rare public appearance, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray addressed a joint press conference on Saturday morning in Mumbai. The duo alleged foul play in the government formation by Bharatiya Janata Party and NCP leader Ajit Pawar claiming a number of NCP MLAs were mislead into being taken to Raj Bhawan.

The joint press conference comes in the backdrop of Devendra Fadnavis swearing in as the chief minister of Maharashtra and Ajit Pawar as his deputy on early Saturday morning. The development came less than 12 hours after Sharad Pawar named Thackeray as the next chief minister of the state with the backing of his party and Congress.

In Saturday's press conference, the two regional giants were accompanied by three MLAs of the NCP – Rajendra Shingane, Sandip Kshirsagar and Sunil Bhusara – alleged that they were called by Ajit Pawar and were 'unknowingly' taken for the oath taking ceremony but have now returned to Sharad Pawar and offered support to him.

“I don't know have information if (Ajit Pawar) has done because of the fear of investigating agencies or not. As per my sources, 10-11 MLAs were there in Raj Bhawan (on Saturday morning) and out of those, 3 are already here sitting with me," Pawar told reporters adding that appropriate action will be taken by the party against Ajit Pawar.

Sharad Pawar said that the three parties – NCP, Shiv Sena and Congress – continued to be together and he was hopeful that the alliance will form government as it has the edge in numbers.

In the wee hours of Saturday morning, in an official notification, President Ram Nath Kovind also revoked president's rule in the state -- two weeks after it had been imposed following a political deadlock. Following this, in a dramatic turn of overnight events, arch rivals BJP and Ajit Pawar joined hands to form government in Maharashtra on early Saturday morning.

“This is a new kind of thing that the country has witnessed. This is nothing but disrespect towards the Constitution and mandate given by Maharashtra...This is nothing but a political surgical strike that the BJP has done. We will stand together and we will form the government in Maharashtra," Thackeray told reporters.

All the three parties – Congress, Shiv Sena and NCP – are in a huddle with their party leaders to chart out the next course of action. NCP is likely to chose a new legislative party leader later on Saturday evening.

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