Maharashtra Speaker Rahul Narwekar, referring to the recent Election Commission order acknowledging Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar as the leader of the 'real Nationalist Congress Party,' rejected petitions seeking the disqualification of 41 MLAs. These MLAs, who rebelled against Sharad Pawar, triggered a split and a power struggle within the NCP. The Speaker argued that since these MLAs constituted the "will of the party" and aligned with Ajit Pawar to form a new government, they could not be disqualified.
"I hold that (the) Ajit Pawar-led NCP is the real political party. Ajit Pawar has the legislative majority with 41 MLAs. This is undisputed," the Speaker said.
The disqualification petitions were filed by rival factions led by Sharad Pawar and his nephew Ajit Pawar after Ajit Pawar, along with his followers, joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government in Maharashtra in July 2023 and took oath as Deputy Chief Minister.
Questioning party founder Sharad Pawar's decisions or defying his wishes did not amount to defection but it was only internal dissent, Narwekar said in the ruling, adding that the tenth schedule of the Constitution, which deals with anti-defection provisions, was misused in this case.
Party leadership can not use tenth schedule to stifle dissent of large number of members by threatening to disqualify them, Narwekar said.
The events that unfolded in the NCP (in July 2023) were clearly in the nature of intraparty dissent, the ruling held.
The Ajit Pawar faction had "overwhelming" legislative majority when the party split, the Speaker noted.
Decisions of the Ajit Pawar faction constituted the `will of the NCP political party', he said.
Meanwhile, power corridors in Maharashtra are abuzz with speculation about a merger of former union minister Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) with the Congress ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
However, NCP Lok Sabha member Supriya Sule denied the rumour, saying their faction has no plans to merge with any other political party. “Sharad Pawar-led NCP will continue participating in elections as part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance. Our faction will not merge with any political party,” Sule told the reporters later.
(With inputs from PTI)
