Politicians switching allegiances is a regular phenomenon in Indian politics. Some of them may turn to another party after being denied a ticket to contest the election while others quit the party and join another one due to differences or better dividends.
But in this case, a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA jumped ship within the party, thrice, and that too, in a span of one week.
Makrand Jadhav Patil, who represents Wai Assembly constituency in Maharashtra's Satara district, first sided with Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on July 2, the day when the latter led a rebellion and joined the Maharashtra government. The MLA had attended Ajit Pawar's oath-taking ceremony.
After the NCP's split, several MLAs have been cris-crossing between Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar factions.
The very next day, Makrand Jadhav Patil switched loyalties and joined party supremo Sharad Pawar, accompanying him to Karad in Satara district, where the latter paid tributes to his mentor Yashwantrao Chavan.
All seemed going smooth for Makrand Jadhav Patil till he returned to the Ajit Pawar camp. He made the announcement on Sunday.
On July 2, Ajit Pawar stunned his uncle Sharad Pawar and led a vertical split in the NCP as he and eight other MLAs joined the Maharashtra government led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis. Ajit Pawar took the oath as the Deputy Chief Minister for the third time in four years.
The development came after Ajit Pawar's cousin Supriya Sule was recently appointed the NCP's working president. Interestingly, Praful Patel, who was also named the party's working president, sided with Ajit Pawar.
Both the Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar camps claim to have the support of MLAs to represent the "real NCP".
The rebellion sparked a bitter battle with Ajit Pawar asking the 82-year-old Sharad Pawar to retire from politics due to his advancing age and hand over the reins of the NCP to him.
In response, Sharad Pawar hit back at his nephew and invoked former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, saying he was neither tired nor retired ('na tired hu, na retired hu').
The veteran politician said he can still work even at 82 years, as NCP workers had requested him to keep going. "Who are they to tell me to retire? I can still work," he said.
(With inputs from agencies)