On Thursday (15th February), Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar delivered the verdict on the 5 petitions filed by the two NCP factions against each other and decided that the Ajit Pawar faction is the ‘real NCP’ political party. The decision was based on the factor of the legislative majority.
“If we look at the numerical strength, Ajit Pawar’s group has more numerical strength. There is no dispute about the party’s constitution, ” Rahul Narvekar was quoted as saying while delivering the verdict. The speaker also dismissed the disqualification application by the Sharad Pawar faction against the Ajit Pawar faction.
Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar decides that Ajit Pawar faction is the 'real NCP' political party. Decision was based on the factor of legislative majority. pic.twitter.com/HH6ab2jDVl
— ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2024
“Both groups are committed to the party. On June 30, 2023, this party split. In that case, what the constitution of the party says about leadership is important,” he added. Narvekar noted that there was no disagreement regarding Sharad Pawar’s leadership until June 29. In July, a group led by Ajit Pawar joined the administration. Rahul Narvekar stated that since then, both groups have claimed to be the Nationalist Party.
“The President, Working Committee, and National Committee represent the party’s decision-making system. The proof of my judgment about the Shiv Sena must be provided here. Both are seeking the position of President of the Nationalist Party. Both sides contend that the president was not elected in accordance with the party’s constitution. Two parallel leaderships have stood here. Both groups have filed disqualification petitions,” he said.
“According to the party constitution, the NCP Working Committee is the highest-level entity. It has sixteen permanent members. However, the party’s constitution prohibits the appointment of permanent members. We must determine who the party belongs to by examining the leadership structure, party constitution, and legislative strength. The party’s constitution and leadership structure lack clarity,” he observed.
Hours before the verdict, the group led by Ajit Pawar stated that it would not reverse its decision to join the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The NCP broke in July of last year when Ajit Pawar and eight other MLAs joined the state administration under the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and BJP, resulting in cross-petitions.
Sunil Tatkare from NCP (Ajit Pawar group) said, “There is no turning back from our decision to join the NDA. The decision was taken by our leader and state Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. We are hopeful that the speaker will give his verdict in our favor.”
The Election Commission of India (ECI) assigned the party name ‘NCP’ and poll symbol ‘clock’ to the Ajit Pawar-led group recently. It also designated ‘Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar’ as the name of the organization led by Sharad Pawar.
Tatkare, who is the party’s state president and also a Lok Sabha member, claimed that some leaders from the NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar were keen on switching over to their side. “Some of them are in touch with me, while others are in contact with Ajit Pawar. We are not opposed to inducting anyone from that side into our party ahead of the elections,” he said.
Meanwhile, the verdict by Narvekar comes days after the Sharad Pawar-led faction moved to the Supreme Court against ECI’s order to recognize Ajit Pawar’s faction as a real NCP. The Sharad Pawar-led group filed a case with the Supreme Court challenging the handover of the clock emblem to the Ajit Pawar faction, among other demands.
