After Election Commission, Maharashtra Speaker Also Declares Ajit Pawar Faction As 'Real NCP', Dismisses Disqualification Plea

Declaring Ajit Pawar-led faction of the Nationalist Congress Party as the 'real NCP', Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar dismissed the disqualification plea filed by the Sharad Pawar faction.

Saying that the decision was based on the factor of legislative majority, the Speaker ruled that the act of NCP MLAs joining the ruling coalition under Ajit Pawar's leadership was not defection.

Narwekar noted that Ajit Pawar and others' actions and statements between 30 June and 2 July last year were intra-party dissent.

This comes a week after the Election Commission declared that the Ajit Pawar-led faction is the 'real' NCP and awarded the name and symbol of NCP to the Ajit Pawar faction.

The Commission's decision was also based on the numerical strength of the factions. The faction led by Ajit Pawar had the larger share of NCP's 53 MLAs in the Maharashtra Assembly.

Only 12 of the party's 53 MLAs have been supporting Sharad Pawar since the battle for control of the party broke out last year.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had asked the Speaker to deliver his verdict by 15 February, extending the initial deadline of 31 January, in response to Narwekar's plea seeking an extension.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta sought additional time for Narwekar, citing his occupancy with the disqualification petitions of Shiv Sena MLAs. Narwekar had declared Shinde Sena as the real Shiv Sena in his verdict.