It is yet to be ascertained whether the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is a part of the Eknath Shinde-BJP government or is still in the Opposition, said Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on Tuesday. The speaker said he will understand the merits of each representation and take an informed decision on the matter.
On Sunday, senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar led a vertical split in the party to become deputy chief minister in the one-year-old Shiv Sena-BJP government, shocking his uncle Sharad Pawar, who founded the outfit 24 years ago after quitting the Congress. Besides Ajit Pawar, eight other NCP MLAs, including Chhagan Bhujbal and Hasan Mushrif, were sworn in as ministers in the Shinde cabinet.
In an exclusive interview with CNN News18, Narwekar said that first, it has to be determined who– Ajit Pawar or Sharad Pawar– leads NCP, and accordingly the whip will be decided.
“Necessary process will be followed. We will have to see if the merits comply with the requirements. The legislative process will be followed. There will be no delay or hurry in making the decision. An informed decision will be taken. We have to first understand who leads the party to decide about the whip,” said the speaker.
Speaking of Shiv Sena (UBT)’s petition in the Supreme Court over the delay in the process of MLAs’ disqualification case, Narwekar said, “I am not aware of any three-month period or deadline.”
Earlier today, the Uddhav faction leader Sunil Prabhu filed a petition before the top court alleging Maharashtra Assembly Speaker didn’t decide on the disqualification petition in a stipulated time.
Notably, SC on May 11 order only mentioned that the pending disqualification petitions must be decided “within a reasonable period”, but said nothing about the deadline.
Earlier on Monday, Narwekar said his office has not yet received any petition mentioning a split in the party.
“I am yet to ascertain whether the NCP is a part of the state government or is still in the Opposition bloc. I will go through the details available before me and take a call on it,” he said.
Asked how many NCP MLAs have expressed their support to Ajit Pawar, Narwekar said, I do not have any information on it because there is no written communication from his side. The party-wise strength in the Legislative Assembly still remains unchanged. The Sharad Pawar-led party has 53 MLAs in the 288-member Assembly.
The Speaker said his office has received several representations from legislators related to recent developments in the NCP.
“We will look into them, study their legality and then only take a decision,” he said without elaborating on the nature of representations received by his office.
(With PTI inputs)
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