Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar Declares Ajit Pawar Faction as 'Real NCP'

Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on Friday declared Ajit Pawar Faction as 'Real NCP'. There was a spilt in the NCP on June 30, 2023, following which Ajit Pawar joined the Maharashtra government led by Eknath Shinde. Ajit Pawar was sworn in as Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister.

Mumbai (Maharashtra):Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on Thursday declared Ajit Pawar faction as the 'real NCP'. Narwekar alsoruled that the MLAs of Ajit Pawar's group are not disqualified.

The verdict by Maharashtra Assembly Speaker is seen as big setback to NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar). The Ajit Pawar faction has the support of 43 MLAs and six MLCs. Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar gave the verdict that the party belongs to Ajit Pawar, who is the nephew of former Union Minister Sharad Pawar.

"All the petitions seeking disqualification of MLAs are rejected," Narwekar further said. "Misuse of provisions of constitution's 10th schedule by political parties was apparent in NCP case," the Speaker added.

"Questioning Sharad Pawar's decision or defying his wishes did not amount to defection. The party leadership can not use 10th schedule to stifle dissent of large number of members by threatening to disqualify," added Narwekar.

The Maharashtra Assembly Speaker also noted that the Sharad Pawar faction cannot be held to be disqualified. According to Narwekar, he cannot decide who is the president of NCP. On June 30, 2023, there was a split in the NCP, which was founded by Sharad Pawar in 1999. There was no dispute till then. Rahul Narvekar gave his verdict on five petitions, three of which filed from the Sharad Pawar group, while two petitions were submitted by the Ajit Pawar faction.

Ajit Pawar broke ranks with NCP founded by Sharad Pawar and joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government in Maharashtra, headed by Eknath Shinde. Ajit Pawar has the support of senior NCP leaders Sunil Tatkare, Praful Patel, Hasan Mushrif, Chhagan Bhujbal among others.

Maharashtra Assembly Speaker on Thursday described his order recognising the Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction as the real party as tenable, sustainable, and based on the principles established by the Supreme Court. Talking to reporters after delivering the verdict in Mumbai, Narwekar said all the guidelines laid down by the apex court were adhered to.

A reasoned and justifiable order has been delivered today. This verdict is tenable, sustainable and justified. It has been given on the basis of the sound principles established in accordance with the guidelines given by the apex court and disqualification rules, Narwekar said.

Reacting to the criticism by the Sharad Pawar-led NCP group and Shiv Sena (UBT), Narwekar said those who don't know about the 10th Schedule of the Constitution, which deals with anti-defection provisions, can make such a statement.

MP Supriya Sule from the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) termed Narwekar's ruling "laughable and copy-paste" of what he had done in the Shiv Sena case where the factions led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray had filed disqualification petitions. An invisible power is actively trying to finish off Shiv Sena and NCP, two important state-based parties, Sule said.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray lashed out at Maharashtra Assembly Spekaer saying he is making a big joke of democracy and constitutional values.

"The speaker, in role of the tribunal should try stand up comedy. He seems to be great at making a big joke of the democracy and constitutional values we uphold (sic)," Aaditya said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.