Ajit Pawar faction is real NCP; anti-defection law can not be used to stifle dissent: Maha Speaker
Mumbai, Feb 15: Maharashtra assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on Thursday held that the NCP faction led by deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar was the real Nationalist Congress Party, and the anti-defection provisions in the Constitution can not be used to stifle internal dissent.
While dismissing disqualification petitions filed by the factions led by Ajit Pawar and his uncle Sharad Pawar against each other's legislators, the Speaker noted that the Ajit group had "overwhelming legislative majority" of 41 out of 53 party MLAs when it decided to join the Shiv Sena-BJP government in Maharashtra in July 2023.
The Ajit Pawar group was, thus, the "real political party" when the factions emerged, Narwekar said.
The ruling, which followed the Election Commission's decision last week holding the Ajit-led faction as the real NCP, was criticised by the Sharad Pawar group as "copy-paste" of Narwekar's earlier decision on disqualification petitions filed by rival Shiv Sena factions.
"An invisible power" was trying to finish off two key Maharashtra-based parties, NCP MP and Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule alleged.
"All the petitions seeking disqualification of MLAs are rejected," Narwekar said, reading out the ruling at the legislature complex here earlier in the evening.
Questioning then party supremo Sharad Pawar's decisions or defying his wishes did not amount to defection but it was only internal dissent, Narwekar said, adding that the tenth schedule of the Constitution, which provides for disqualification of a legislator in case of defection, was misused in this case.
A party leadership can not use the tenth schedule to stifle dissent of large number of members by threatening to disqualify them, he said.
The events that unfolded in the NCP in July 2023 were clearly in the nature of intraparty dissent, and the decisions of the Ajit Pawar faction constituted the `will of the NCP political party', the Speaker said.
"What can you expect from Narwekar? His decision is laughable and copy-paste of what he has done in the case of Shiv Sena where the factions led by chief minister Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray had filed disqualification petitions. An invisible power is actively trying to finish off Shiv Sena and NCP, two important state-based parties," MP Supriya Sule of the NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar (as the party headed by the senior Pawar is now officially called), said in her reaction.
"We do not have to be so naive (to expect a different result). The entire country is being run by bypassing rules, laws and constitutional norms," Sule, the daughter of the NCP founder, said while speaking to reporters.
Notably, deciding on disqualification petitions filed by the Shiv Sena factions last month, Narwekar had given a ruling on similar lines, holding Chief Minister Shinde's group to be the real Sena but refusing to disqualify any MLA from both the sides.
On Narwekar's observation that the anti-defection provisions in the Constitution's tenth schedule should not be used to suppress internal dissent, Sule said, "The invisible power dictates, that is how the Speaker's office functions and goes with a copy-paste decision."
She also referred to BJP Rajya Sabha member Subramanian Swamy's purported letter to BJP president J P Nadda, claiming that it shows "which party conducts internal elections and which one indulges in suppressing dissent."
Sunil Tatkare, Maharashtra president of the NCP, expressed happiness over the ruling, saying that the decision taken under Ajit Pawar's leadership last year (to join the Shiv Sena-BJP government) was upheld by the Speaker.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray -- an ally of the Sharad Pawar-led party -- criticised the Speaker's decision.
"Those who formed the NCP have nothing to do with it now. Those who ran away with the party are the new heads. The same decision was made in the Shiv Sena case. The Speaker was supposed to function as a tribunal, but the decision was not unexpected," the former state minister said.
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TN polls: TVK pushes DMK behind with leads in 83 seats, AIADMK ahead in 54
Chennai (PTI): New entrant TVK, led by actor-politician Vijay, was leading in as many as 83 constituencies on Monday when counting of votes polled in the April 23 Assembly polls was on across Tamil Nadu. The AIADMK was leading in 58 seats while the ruling DMK was ahead in 34, EC data showed.
About two hours after the postal ballots were counted and EVMs opened for multi-round counting, Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam surged ahead of its Dravidian rivals-- the DMK and the AIADMK, with the ruling party struggling to catch up.
If the trends maintain, Vijay could as well ensure the biggest electoral upset, something in lines with the "1967,1977" wins he had referred to in his campaign speeches.
While the Dravidian stalwart CN Annadurai brought the first non-Congress government in Tamil Nadu post-independence in 1967, the charismatic MG Ramachandran (MGR) installed the maiden AIADMK government 10 years later, unseating then DMK government under M Karunanidhi. TVK was leading in most Chennai segments, all considered DMK strongholds and currently represented by the party in the 234-member House.
A poor show by DMK could belie most exit polls giving an edge to it, riding on the number of populist measures Chief Minister M K Stalin had implemented in his five year "Dravidian model," inclusive governance.
According to EC and TV reports, 15 cabinet ministers, including Stalin were trailing. His son and deputy CM Udhayanidhi was also behind in his incumbent Chepauk-Tirvuvallikeni seat, according to a number of reports.
Stalin was trailing behind TVK's VS Babu by 1234 votes in Kolathur segment. Vijay was ahead in Tiruchirappalli East by over 3,000 votes at the end of two rounds of counting, according to EC data.
BJP is trailing in 26 constituencies and it is ahead in Thali segment alone. TVK is ahead in constituencies including Ponneri, Tiruvallur, Poonamalle, and Avadi.
AIADMK is leading in segments including Katpadi, and Guidyattam and party chief Edappadi K Palaniswami is ahead in Edappadi segment by 7003 votes.
DMK was leading in segments including Vellore, Anaikattu and Rishivandiyam.
