Election documents stolen from NCP office, says Awhad

During the NCP disqualification petitions hearing, the Sharad Pawar faction claimed that documents related to election were stolen by a former member who joined the rebel faction.

MUMBAI: In an intriguing twist on the first day of the NCP disqualification petitions hearing, the Sharad Pawar faction claimed that its documents related to the election of Pawar as national president, as well as state- and district-level committee election documents had been stolen. The person who was entrusted with keeping them safe stole them before he quit the party and joined the rebel faction led by deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, alleged MLA Jitendra Awhad during the hearing before Maharashtra assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar.

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Awhad, however, did not name any particular person, adding that he had no knowledge whether a police complaint was filed against the concerned person. The MLA was replying to the questions of senior advocate Virendra Tulzapurkar and Pradip Sancheti representing the Ajit Pawar faction. Awhad was asked around 55 questions, which took up most of the over-six hours of the hearing. Hemant Takle, (treasurer) of the Sharad Pawar faction was also questioned.

The hearing took place at the central hall of the state legislature building where a courtroom set-up was recreated. Awhad was asked to come to the witness box, where he took an oath on the Constitution of India before deposing as a witness.

The cross-examination by the Ajit Pawar faction was intended to challenge the NCP’s organisational structure and establish that it was not in accordance with the party’s constitution, if at all it was shown on record before the Election Commission of India (ECI).

Awhad was asked to share details of the organisational structure, the party hierarchy and whether elections had taken place for all the organisation’s bodies. He replied that as per his knowledge, they had, but they had now gone missing. In response to another question, he claimed that the party had submitted documents to the ECI related to internal party elections in other states and union territories.

The MLA also said that the only nomination for the election of national president was filed in September 2022 when Sharad Pawar was elected to the post. He raised doubts about a purported meeting held by the Ajit Pawar faction on June 30, in which Ajit Pawar was appointed the national president. “If the alleged meeting was held on June 30, they would not have submitted an undated letter (of Ajit Pawar’s appointment) to the election commission; it would have been dated June 30,” he remarked.

Without following the procedure prescribed by the NCP constitution, the members of the legislative party could not remove sitting president Sharad Pawar, insisted Awhad. He added that Ashutosh Kale, an MLA whose signature on the form of support was mentioned in the letter, was in the United States when the purported meeting took place.

The cross-examination of the Sharad Pawar faction will continue on Wednesday.