Party had no policy on alliances, so there was no question of violating it: Ajit Pawar camp

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) disqualification hearing has ended, with the rebel faction arguing that there was no party policy on political alliances. The speaker will announce his verdict before February 15.

Strap: NCP disqualification hearing ends; speaker Narwekar to give verdict before Feb 15

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The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), headed by Sharad Pawar, did not have a policy on political alliances and hence there was no question of violating it, said the rebel faction in its final argument on the last day of the NCP MLAs’ disqualification hearing on Wednesday.

“The NCP had in 2014 declared support to the BJP government. In 2019, it formed the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government with the Shiv Sena and Congress. In short, there was no party policy as such. So, there is no question of violating it,” Pradeep Sancheti, senior counsel for the Ajit Pawar camp, said.

He also said there was no written instruction from the party president or the working committee of the party about the policy to not join the Shiv Sena-BJP government. “So, Ajit Pawar and the other supporting MLAs are not liable for disqualification for acting against the will of the political party.”

Assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar has reserved his judgement. After the Supreme Court extended the deadline by 15 days, the speaker will now have to pronounce his verdict before February 15.

On the second and last day of final arguments, the Ajit Pawar faction argued on various aspects of the functioning of the NCP and claimed there was no organisational structure as per the party constitution and instead it focused on the majority in the legislative party.

The Sharad Pawar faction on Tuesday said the alleged meeting on June 30, 2023, which elected Ajit Pawar as national president, is an illusion and questioned the authenticity of his election.

Countering the claim, Sancheti said the Ajit Pawar camp on June 30 last year submitted letters to the state legislature and the Election Commission of India (ECI) informing them about the meeting and the decisions taken in it.

“We have copies of those letters as evidence of the meeting on June 30. Besides, in the submission they (the Sharad Pawar group) said since Ajit Pawar and his supporters held a meeting on June 30 and submitted a letter to the ECI they are liable for disqualification. So how can they say now that the meeting on June 30 is an illusion,” Sancheti asked.

Virendra Tulzapurkar, another counsel for the Ajit Pawar faction, claimed there was no organisational structure in the NCP and there were no elections on ground level as per the party constitution. He also said all office bearers, including president Sharad Pawar, were appointed and not elected.

“So, as per the party constitution it was invalid, and it shows the organisational structure was not in existence,” he said.

In his response, Sharan Jagtiani, senior counsel for the Sharad Pawar camp, said the party constitution and the organisational structure of the NCP is beyond the dispute and they have evidence to show there was an organisational structure in the party.