Maharashtra assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar asserted on Thursday that the NCP faction led by deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar constituted the authentic Nationalist Congress Party.
He emphasized that the anti-defection provisions in the Constitution should not be employed to suppress internal dissent.
While dismissing disqualification petitions from both factions led by Ajit Pawar and his uncle Sharad Pawar against each other's legislators, the Speaker highlighted that Ajit Pawar's group held an "overwhelming legislative majority" of 41 out of 53 party MLAs when deciding to join the Shiv Sena-BJP government in Maharashtra in July 2023.
Narwekar stated, "The Ajit Pawar group was the real political party when the factions emerged," aligning with the Election Commission's recent decision affirming the Ajit-led faction as the genuine NCP.
The ruling faced criticism from the Sharad Pawar group, describing it as a "copy-paste" of Narwekar's earlier decision on disqualification petitions within rival Shiv Sena factions.
NCP MP Supriya Sule, Sharad Pawar's daughter, alleged that "an invisible power" was attempting to dismantle two significant Maharashtra-based parties.
Narwekar defended the decision, asserting that questioning party supremo Sharad Pawar's decisions or dissenting did not amount to defection but constituted internal dissent.
He argued that the misuse of the tenth schedule of the Constitution in this case led to the suppression of dissent within the party.
Supriya Sule criticized Narwekar's decision, calling it "laughable" and a product of an "invisible power" seeking to undermine Shiv Sena and NCP.
She pointed to a purported letter from BJP's Subramanian Swamy to party president J P Nadda, alleging that it exposed the suppression of dissent within parties.
Notably, Narwekar's ruling echoed his earlier decision on disqualification petitions from Shiv Sena factions, where he declared Chief Minister Shinde's group as the authentic Sena without disqualifying any MLA from both sides.
NCP Maharashtra president Sunil Tatkare welcomed the ruling, stating that it upheld the decision taken under Ajit Pawar's leadership to join the Shiv Sena-BJP government.
However, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray, an ally of Sharad Pawar's party, criticized the Speaker's decision, claiming that those who formed the NCP were no longer associated with it, and the ones who left with the party were now the new leaders.
