"Will give fair chance to those who defected to return..." NCP Maharashtra President Patil

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], July 3 : Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Maharashtra President Jayant Patil on Monday said that the party will give a "fair chance" to MLAs who have taken oath as Cabinet ministers in the chief minister Eknath Shinde government to return to the party.

Speaking to reporters here Patil said that party will take legal action against party MLAs who have defected to the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government.

He also said that the rebel MLAs have been forbidden from using the symbols of the NCP and stated that legal action will be taken against them if they do so.

Patil said, "We have sent a petition to the Assembly speaker last night. We requested him to hear us. Our party's strength in the Assembly is 53, of which 9 have defected, the rest all are with us. We will give them a fair chance to come back but will take action against those who do not come back."

Speaking to reporters outside the NCP office here, Patil said that the offer to take back MLAs, however, has a time limit.

"We have 44 MLAs with us and action will be taken only on nine people who have rebelled. We have written a letter regarding them. Our doors are still open today, but this too has a time limit," he said

Meanwhile, Ajit Pawar who on Sunday took oath as the second Deputy CM of Maharashtra claimed that he has the support of all the 53 MLAs of the NCP.

However, Maharashtra Assembly Speaker has said that he is unaware of the exact number of MLAs supporting Ajit Pawar.

The NCP has also passed a resolution, seeking the disqualification of nine of its MLAs, including Ajit Pawar. A resolution to disqualify the nine MLAs was passed by the NCP Discipline Committee.

"The very act of these MLAs of going to the Governor of Maharashtra, and taking oath as Deputy Chief Minister and ministers in the government led by Eknath Shinde - which is strongly opposed by the NCP - amounts to voluntarily giving up membership of the NCP political party," the 22-page disqualification petition said.

The party in a statement said that the MLAs had indulged in anti-party activities in clear and absolute violation of Article 32 of the party's Constitution.

"These actions of the nine MLAs call for immediate disqualification as not only are such defections ipso facto seriously damaging to the party but also that is allowed to continue as members, there is a very real likelihood that they continue to try and undermine the interests of the party," the statement added.

It is said that the move taken by the MLAs was done in a "secretive manner" without the knowledge or consent of the party President Sharad Pawar.

"These defections were done in such a secretive manner, without the knowledge or consent of the Party President, amounts to the desertion of the party which in turn invites disqualification," it said.

On Sunday, Maharashtra Governor Ramesh Bais administered the oath to Ajit Pawar and other ministers - Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse-Patil, Hasan Mushrif, Dhananjay Munde, Dharmarao Baba Atram, Aditi Tatkare, Sanjay Bansode and Anil Patil.

NCP supremo Sharad Pawar on Sunday said it was not the NCP's decision to align with the BJP-Shiv Sena government and said action would be taken against leaders who violated the party line.

Ajit Pawar, who was the Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, claimed all MLAs are with him and has staked claim to the party symbols.

"We have all the numbers. All MLAs are with me. We are here as a party. We have informed all seniors also. The majority is given importance in a democracy. Our party is 24 years old and young leadership should come forward," Ajit Pawar said while addressing reporters after taking oath as Deputy Chief Minister. Former union minister Praful Patel was also with him.

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