The NCP, headed by Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, filed a challenge in the Bombay High Court against the decision of the state assembly speaker not to disqualify 10 MLAs associated with the Sharad Pawar camp. The petitions urged the High Court to invalidate Speaker Rahul Narwekar's recent order, citing its legal inadequacy, and additionally sought the disqualification of all 10 legislators.
Filed by Anil Patil, chief whip of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, through advocate Shrirang Varma, the petitions contested the 'legality, propriety, and correctness' of Narwekar's decision to dismiss the disqualification petitions filed against the MLAs aligned with the Sharad Pawar faction.
A division bench led by Justice G S Kulkarni said it would hear the matter on Wednesday. Narwekar had last week ruled that the faction led by Ajit Pawar is the real Nationalist Congress Party, but didn't disqualify MLAs of either faction. The speaker has wrongly arrived at the conclusion that the split in the NCP was intra-party dissent.
According to the petitions, since the speaker has determined that the NCP led by Ajit Pawar is the legitimate political party, the disqualification petitions should have been permitted as well. Ajit Pawar and his uncle Sharad Pawar are embroiled in a power struggle following Ajit's move along with 8 MLAs to join the Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra government in July 2023. The factions are primarily at odds over two key matters: ownership of the party and whether MLAs from the opposing faction are subject to disqualification under Section 2(1)(A) of the Tenth Schedule.
On February 7, the Election Commission settled the dispute in favor of Ajit Pawar, recognizing his faction as the authentic NCP and assigning it the party's 'clock' symbol. Subsequently, the EC designated the group led by Sharad Pawar as the 'Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar)'. On February 15, Narwekar affirmed that Ajit Pawar's faction was indeed the legitimate NCP and emphasized that constitutional anti-defection provisions shouldn't impede internal dissent. Following this, the Supreme Court directed that the Election Commission's decision of February 7, granting the name 'Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar' for Sharad Pawar's faction, will remain in effect until further notice.