Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Rahul Narwekar.
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: The two split-hit parties led by Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar have slammed the decision to appoint Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar as head of the Committee that would review the Anti-Defection Law.
At the 84th All India Presiding Officers' Conference in Mumbai - which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and addressed among others by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, the appointment was made.
The 10th Schedule of the Indian Constitution popularly referred to as the ‘Anti-Defection Law’ was inserted by the 52nd Amendment in 1985 to the Constitution - and it provides for the disqualification of elected legislators from the legislature if they voluntarily switch parties or vote against the party's direction.
The appointment is significant as Narwekar has presided over the disqualification case involving the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Uddhav Thackeray-headed Shiv Sena (UBT) and is currently conducting similar proceedings involving the Ajit Pawar-headed NCP faction and the Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule-led NCP group.
"At first glance, this news line sounds like sarcasm… then you realise it isn’t. Then you wonder, why did this person named herein get this task of heading the Anti Defection Law review panel? Whether it is the vast experience of hopping 3 parties in a span of around 5 years,” Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and MLA Aaditya Thackeray said in an obvious reference to Narwekar’s stint in Shiv Sena, NCP and now BJP.
“Or is it a reward for the current circumstances created by the said person as tribunal, in Maharashtra,” said Aaditya.
What could be a bigger tragedy than the appointment of Narwekar to head the panel to review Anti Defection Law,” said NCP MLA Dr Jitendra Awhad. “It is the biggest mockery of constitutional values to appoint a person who has made a home with all parties,” he added, referring to Narwekar's political career.