Anurag Kumar
Sharad Pawar, the leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), has petitioned the Supreme Court for directives to be issued to Rahul Narwekar, the speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly, regarding the prosecution of MLAs who have renounced their allegiance to Ajit Pawar. NCP has lodged disqualification petitions against forty MLAs on the grounds of anti-party activities subsequent to Ajit Pawar’s party schism and subsequent appointment as deputy chief minister to the coalition government.
On Monday, the SC is scheduled to hear the petition. This action is being taken at a time when the Election Commission has commenced deliberating on the petition submitted by Ajit Pawar, who is seeking to establish the party’s name and election symbol.
According to insiders, the party is attempting to compel the speaker to resolve the disqualification case they filed in response to Supreme Court orders requiring him to provide a timeline for the resolution of the disqualification petitions lodged against chief minister Eknath Shinde and his party MLAs who defected from the Shiv Sena and allied with the BJP in June 2022 in order to form a new government.
“On September 24, Maharashtra president Jayant Patil submitted a writ petition to the Supreme Court on behalf of our party, the NCP, which is headed by Sharad Pawar. An NCP insider stated, “We have requested directives from the speaker, who has remained inactive for more than three months since our initial petition for disqualification was presented to him on July 2.”
Three petitions have been submitted by the NCP seeking the disqualification of dissident MLAs. The initial petition was directed at nine MLAs, one of whom was Ajit Pawar; the second petition targeted twenty MLAs; and the third petition targeted eleven MLAs. “The purpose of the petition is to accelerate our legal proceedings, as we are concerned that the speaker’s decision may be swayed in favor of the Ajit faction.” “This will enable us to quickly approach the SC and have them disqualified in the event that the speaker rules against us,” he continued.
Additionally, the NCP faction, led by Ajit Pawar, has submitted a caveat to the highest court. This was verified by Praful Patel, the working national president of the faction led by Ajit. “Along with the petition they filed, we have also submitted a caveat requesting that the court refrain from issuing any orders until we present our case,” he explained.
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The group commanded by Ajit holds the belief that they will face no repercussions. “It is common knowledge that the Supreme Court declined to intervene in the case of Shiv Sena vs. Eknath Shinde within the speaker’s jurisdiction.” “That means the same will happen to our case,” an insider from the faction led by Ajit said, adding, “At most, the apex court will request a ruling from Narwekar within a reasonable time frame; elections could take place at any point next year.”
On Monday, the Election Commission of India (ECI) will conduct its second hearing regarding a petition submitted by the NCP dissident faction, which seeks to assert ownership over the party’s name and symbol.
