Maharashtra:  Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar declares Ajit Pawar faction as real NCP

Reading out his ruling on the disqualification petitions filed by the rival factions against each other’s MLAs, Mr. Narwekar said that Mr. Ajit Pawar’s faction had outnumbered his uncle’s faction before joining the ruling alliance. The Speaker also rejected the disqualification petitions of the MLAs filed by both factions of the NCP, including Mr. Ajit Pawar.

The Speaker said that all the petitions seeking disqualification of MLAs are rejected. He added that the MLAs cannot be disqualified as they did not amount to voluntarily giving up their membership of the political party.

Mr. Narwekar observed that the events that unfolded between the 30th of June and the 2nd of July, 2023, were clearly like intra-Party dissent within the NCP and the members of the party stood divided between two leaders i.e.

Mr. Sharad Pawar and Mr. Ajit Pawar. He stated that the conflict was within the political party. Questioning the decision of Mr. Sharad Pawar and going against his wishes cannot be said as an act of defection or of leaving the party Narvekar ruled that it is a descent expressed by the members of the NCP.

The Speaker also noted that as an elected representative, he witnesses the daily churning of politics as it plays out before him. “I see members and leaders through a kaleidoscope making and breaking into new forms, forging new alliances, undoing old relations and striking out in unknown directions.

He said that this is in the very nature of politics which is unfolding before our eyes. He observed that it is the reality of politics today, and surely every such action cannot qualify as defection within the meaning of the 10th Schedule.

Mr. Ajit Pawar led a vertical split in his party and joined hands with the National Democratic Alliance on the 2nd of July last year and took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra for the fifth time, setting a record for the largest number of appointments to this position since it was created in 1978.

Mr. Sharad Pawar named his faction ‘Nationalist Congress Party – Sharadchandra Pawar’ after the Election Commission of India recognised Ajit Pawar’s faction as a real NCP and also allotted its Wall Clock poll symbol.