Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh

This time, the political war is being fought with an in-house rival - his nephew Ajit Anantrao Pawar, labelled as the "culprit" who broke the party to sup with the “enemy camp” of ruling Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party.

Earlier in the day, speaking to IANS, Janata Dal (United) leader KC Tyagi said, "Session of Bihar assembly will take place from July 10, in such scenario the meeting might be postponed to a fresh date."

Nearly four years later, Ajit Pawar again sent the MVA into a post-luncheon tizzy, this time by splitting the NCP to join the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party regime of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Fadnavis, as the second Deputy CM – a first for the state, though a fifth time for himself.

Indicating that he may be ‘down but not out’, Sharad Pawar, 83, declared that notwithstanding the split engineered by his over-ambitious nephew, he would again rebuild the party from scratch. Asked that henceforth, “who could be the most reliable face of the party”, without batting an eyelid, Sharad Pawar raised his right hand and quipped: “Sharad Pawar!”

Addressing a crowded media conference, Ajit Pawar, 64, who took oath as Deputy CM for the 5th time, said that the entire NCP is with him and he had blessings of everyone in the party. Giving a peek into the top-secret political drama which erupted on Sunday, Pawar revealed that he had already resigned as the Maha Vikas Aghadi’s Leader of Opposition in the Assembly on last Friday.

Talking to media persons here, Pawar said that the meeting was planned in Shimla on July 11-12, but owing to weather and heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh, the venue has been shifted to Bengaluru. This will be the second meeting after June 23 when over 15 national opposition parties had met in Patna to chart out the strategy to challenge the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

There were loud protests and demonstrations, burning of 'Khokhas' (slang for Crore rupees), raising slogans and condemning the ruling ally Shiv Sena for its actions that led to the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government headed by former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray in 2022.

RSS' Sarkaryavah (General Secretary) Dattatreya Hosabale urged the government, including local administration, police, military and the central agencies to take every possible step to "stop this painful violence immediately", ensure the seamless supply of relief materials among the displaced along with necessary actions to maintain peace and harmony.

"In the elections, the people gave a majority to the Congress. This means that its manifesto was accepted by the masses. It's the responsibility of the government to implement the approved program and the Karnataka government has started doing it," said Sharad Pawar.

"Such unceremonious comments are being closely watched by the common people," Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat said. Rahul Gandhi, who is in the US now, criticised the Narendra Modi-led Central government during his speech in California.