Ajit Pawar faction is real NCP, rules Maharashtra Speaker Rahul Narwekar

While dictating the order, Narwekar referred to the Shiv Sena disqualification case involving Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde and his predecessor Uddhav Thackeray.

Mumbai: In yet another setback to Sharad Pawar and his daughter Supriya Sule, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on Thursday ruled that his nephew Ajit Pawar commands the real Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

In his reasoned order, Narwekar said the provisions of the Tenth Schedule of Constitution, which deals with the disqualification of MPs and MLAs on grounds of defection, should not be used to silence the members or to crush the opposition within the party. 

Narwekar, however, did not disqualify any of the 53 MLAs of the party who were elected in the 2019 Vidhan Sabha polls. 

“All the petitions seeking disqualification of MLAs (filed by both sides against each other) stands rejected," Narwekar said.

The decision, though on expected lines, was similar to that of the 10 January order vis-a-vis Shiv Sena, when Narwekar ruled that Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde commands the real Shiv Sena and not Uddhav Thackeray, now the Shiv Sena (UBT) head.

The speaker’s decision on NCP comes close on the heels of the 6 February order of the Election Commission (EC) which had ruled that Ajit Pawar is the real NCP and allotted the traditional clock symbol to the party.

It may be mentioned, in June 2023, Ajit Pawar rebelled against his mentor and uncle Sharad Pawar and switched over to the NDA-camp. He became deputy chief minister alongside BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis in the Maha Yuti government headed by Shinde, who in June 2022 rebelled against Thackeray and toppled the Maha Vikas Aghadi government. 

“It is clear that on 30 June, 2023, two factions of the NCP emerged. Prior to joining the government, the Ajit Pawar faction outnumbered the Sharad Pawar  faction in terms of numbers of MLAs and MLCs. Two parallel party presidents and party structure existed before 2 July, 2023 when Ajit Pawar became part of the government,” he said. 

"The NCP constitution and the leadership structure does not  provide any clue to decide as to which is the real faction and hence I went by the yardstick of legislative majority,” he said and declared that Ajit Pawar commands the “real NCP party” his  faction enjoys an “overwhelming majority” within the NCP.

This is perhaps the biggest blow to the 83-year-old Sharad Pawar, the Maratha strongman, in his over six decades of public life during which he had been four-time Maharashtra chief minister, three-time union minister having handled the crucial defence and agriculture portfolios and ex-leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha.

Asked about the verdict, Ajit Pawar said, “I have just come to know. Once I go through the details and study it, I would be in a position to comment.” 

However, state NCP president Sunil Tatkare said, “We had a position and we have taken a collective decision under the leadership of Ajit Pawar.” 

On the other hand, Sharad Pawar aide Jayant Patil indicated that they would challenge the speaker’s decision in the Supreme Court. 

Former minister Dr Jitendra Awhad said, “The speaker said that he looks at the Tenth Schedule through a kaleidoscope where alliances make or break…according to him, not all acts or conduct can be considered to be defection. A new political philosophy which is above the law is born in Maharashtra.”