In another setback to the Sharad Pawar faction, Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar ruled on February 15 that the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) faction-led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar was the ‘real’ political party when two factions emerged in July 2023.
He said that the decision was based on the factor of legislative majority.
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 has outnumbered his uncle’s faction before joining the ruling alliance.
The Speaker also rejected the disqualification petitions of the MLAs filed by both the factions of the NCP, including Mr. Ajit Pawar. “All the petitions seeking disqualification of MLAs are rejected. The MLAs cannot be disqualified as they did not amount to voluntarily giving up the membership of the political party,” Mr. Narwekar said.
In a dramatic turn of events which followed months of speculation that he was cosying up to the ruling BJP, Mr. Ajit Pawar led a vertical split in his party and joined hands with the National Democratic Alliance on July 2 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.
Recently, Mr. Sharad Pawar named his faction ‘Nationalist Congress Party - Sharadchandra Pawar’ after the Election Commission of India recognised his nephew’s faction as real NCP and also allotted its Wall Clock poll symbol.
Mr. Narwekar observed that the events that unfolded between June 30 and July 2, 2023 were clearly in the nature of 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. “But, this 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. It is a descent expressed by the members of the NCP,” he ruled.
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; this is in the very nature of politics, and as we see it is unfolding before our eyes. It is the reality of politics today, and surely every such action cannot qualify as defection within the meaning of 10 Schedule,” he said.
