E-Paper
What next: Ajit faction approaches EC to stake claim on the party, legal fight could begin for the control of the party
They informed the ECI that Ajit Pawar has been appointed president of the party. It also termed the appointment of Jayant Patil as state president of the NCP in 2021 illegal and hence argued that the whip issued by him, or his appointees doesn’t apply to the legislative party
Mumbai: Ajit Pawar faction of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) submitted a petition in the Election Commission of India (ECI) staking claim on the party.
They informed the ECI that Ajit Pawar has been appointed president of the party. It also termed the appointment of Jayant Patil as state president of the NCP in 2021 illegal and hence argued that the whip issued by him, or his appointees doesn’t apply to the legislative party.
The faction expects the ECI and the Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar to play a role taking a decision over disqualification of their defected MLAs. They have even requested the Speaker to conduct an independent inquiry to decide who would be the leader of the legislative unit of the NCP.
In a petition to the ECI, the Ajit Pawar faction has said that since the election process was not completed as per the constitution of the party, the appointments of the office bearers were outside the scope of the constitution and thus their whip does not apply.
By such claims, the rebel faction expects the ECI and the speaker of the party to take a decision on the ‘real political party’, right to appoint a whip and in turn the disqualification.
In its petition filed to the ECI, the Ajit Pawar faction said that the appointment of Jayant Patil as the state president of the NCP in 2021 was patently illegal since the it was done without following the procedure following the constitution of the party.
“Therefore the national working president Praful Patel has removed Patil from the post. It is learnt that Jitendra Awhad has been appointed as the leader of the of Opposition and chief whip (by Pawar faction). It is also learnt that Patil has filed disqualification petitions before the speaker against Ajit Pawar and others. The jurisdiction of disqualification is exclusively with the speaker,” the petition to ECI has stated.
“And until final decision the speaker, it would be wrong for anyone to suggest that Ajit Pawar or other ministers would be disqualified. The statements are being made (by Pawar faction) to create confusion,” the petition stated. Anil Patil is with Ajit faction.
It also demanded that the Speaker should conduct an independent inquiry to identify the leader of the party and the whip. It has also stated that unless a final decision is taken by the ECI, no action can be taken by anyone for removal or expulsion of party members.
It has also stated that a resolution passed on June 30, 2023, by overwhelming majority of party members both from legislative and organisational wings has elected Ajit Pawar at the president of the NCP.
According to the experts and the legal officials from the state legislature, the disqualification petitions, filed from both the factions of the NCP, will face the fate of the petitions in the split in Shiv Sena. They said that the decision by the ECI or the speaker may take longer and are unexpected to come in the remaining term of 13 months of the state legislature.
Ulhas Bapat, constitutional expert said, “If the faction that broke away does not have two-third of the majority they shall be disqualified by speaker and in case of the majority, it may go to the apex court where it will take at least a year. Since the speaker belongs to the BJP, it is likely to be a decision with the political colours. If the decisions by the speaker are challenged, it would be time consuming and the final results are unlikely to come before the polls.”
An official from the legislature said that the legislature has to decide on the pending petitions of the two factions from Shiv Sena and the fresh petitions are expected to be heard after them. “The legislative rules have no time frame and the term reasonable time has no specific time line determined. As such, the decisions would be on the discretion of the speaker,” he said.
A leader from the faction said that the whip appointed earlier continues to be the whip and the new appointment after the split would not be applicable. “We have submitted documents ECI to substantiate that ours is the real political party and the whip issued by Anil Patil appointed earlier will be applicable. Appointment of Jitendra Awhad was illegal. Secondly, the whip issued for a public rally at YB Chavan on Wednesday cannot be termed as a party meeting. Thus, we are confident to prove that our faction would be real party,” he said.
The Pawar faction has also prepared its plan for the legal battle. Party legislator Rohit Pawar told the media that the constitution of the party was quite clear about who could make appointments.
