New Delhi | Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Sunday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar splitting his party and joining the Maharashtra government, saying probably this is "the mother of democracy" that Modi talked about in his address to the US Congress.

Marking a split in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Ajit Pawar joined the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government as deputy chief minister on Sunday.

While Pawar was sworn in as the deputy chief minister by Governor Ramesh Bais at ae ceremony held in the Raj Bhawan, eight other NCP leaders took oath as ministers in the government which has the Shiv Sena and the BJP in alliance.

In a tweet, Sibal, referring to Pawar's swearing-in along with other NCP leaders, said, "I guess this is the mother of democracy that Modiji was talking about in his address to the US Congress!" In his address to the US Congress last month, Modi had said that in the evolution of the democratic spirit, India is the "mother of democracy"