Mumbai/IBNS: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Monday denied any "problem in the family" after his nephew Ajit Pawar led a mutiny within the outfit and joined the Shinde government with eight other MLAs.

Speaking to NDTV, Pawar said, "There's no problem in the family. We don't discuss politics in the family. Everyone takes their own decision."

In a sudden political development in Maharashtra, Ajit on Sunday split the legislative party and joined the state's NDA ministry with eight other MLAs.

Sixty-three-year-old Ajit Pawar has joined the state's NDA government for the second time since 2019, when he had a short-lived tryst as deputy CM before returning to the NCP fold in two days.

Ajit Pawar, so long the leader of the opposition, took over as the second Deputy Chief Minister (after BJP's Devendra Fadnavis) on Sunday as he was administered the oath by state Governor Ramesh Bais at Raj Bhavan here in the presence of NCP veteran Praful Patel - a longtime close confidant of Sharad Pawar.

Although Patel did not take oath as state minister, there is speculation that he may be inducted into the union ministry.

In a letter to the Governor, Ajit has claimed to have the support of 40 MLAs.