'Felt like laughing at Patna Opposition meet; of 17 parties, 7 has 1 MP, one has none': Praful Patel chides Sharad Pawar

“They claim they will bring change,” said Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Praful Patel, mocking Opposition unity who have been joining hands to defeat the NDA-led BJP government at the Centre. Addressing NCP MLAs and leaders meeting convened by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Patel, a staunch Sharad Pawar loyalist, said: “I went to the joint opposition meeting in Patna with Sharad Pawar, and I felt like laughing when I saw the scene there. There were 17 opposition parties there, seven of them have only one MP in the Lok Sabha and there is one party that has zero MPs. They claim they will bring change…” Patel shuts up Ajit Pawar’s critics Hitting out at Sharad Pawar-led NCP faction, Patel said Ajit Pawar and other lawmakers have decided to join the BJP-Shiv Sena coalition government in Maharashtra “for the nation and our party and not for personal gain”. “When we could accept the ideology of Shiv Sena, then what is the objection to going with BJP? Mehbooba Mufti and Farooq Abdullah went with BJP in Jammu and Kashmir and they are now part of the joint opposition,” Patel said “We have joined this alliance as an independent entity,” the NCP leader said. Sharad Pawar vs Ajit Pawar: Who meet had most NCP MLAs? As many as 35 of 53 NCP MLAs were present at the party meeting called by Ajit Pawar in Mumbai on Wednesday, PTI quoted sources as saying. Five of eight NCP MLCs also attended the meeting that was held in MET Bandra, they said. As per ANI, 13 MLAs, three MLCs and five MPs were present at Sharad Pawar-led meeting at YB Chavan centre in Mumbai. According to former principal secretary of Maharashtra Legislature Anant Kalse, Ajit Pawar’s camp needs the support of at least 36 MLAs to avoid disqualification. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook_,_  Twitter and  Instagram_._