Caught up in a similar tussle over control of the party after a split, Ajit Pawar, deputy chief minister and leader of one of the two NCP factions, may heave a sigh of relief after the verdict passed by Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar where he declared Shiv Sena under Chief Minister Eknath Shinde as the real party. Ajit Pawar-led faction of the NCP rebelled against his uncle and NCP chief Sharad Pawar in July 2023. The Ajit camp staked claim on the party symbol and name and the litigation is pending in front of the Election Commission of India (ECI). Meanwhile, both sides of the NCP have filed disqualification petition against each side. The Supreme Court had directed the Speaker to give order on those petitions by January 31. While there was no statement from Ajit Pawar or any spokesperson from his faction, his uncle Sharad Pawar, who heads the other NCP group, termed Narvekar’s verdict as a political one. Commenting on the order, NCP chief Sharad Pawar in Pune said, “This is not a judicial order but a political one. This order has created a favourable case for Uddhav Thackeray in the Supreme Court.” Pointing out that the Speaker also stressed on the legislative majority in the case, Pawar said that five judge bench of the Supreme Court, while hearing the Subhash Desai versus state government case, stressed on the importance of the party organisation. “Party organisation chooses the candidates and ensures their victory. Therefore, party organisation is more important,” he said. Pawar’s statement comes at a time when his rival faction led by Ajit Pawar, too, enjoys legislative majority with a claim of support of 40-plus MLAs out of 53. Based on this, the Ajit faction has staked claim on the party and the symbol. The split within the NCP is also on the lines of the Sena where a group of leaders chose to join hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against the wishes of the party chief. The Ajit group has claimed that Sharad Pawar was replaced as the party president with Ajit Pawar before the decision of joining hands with the BJP was taken with approval of majority of party leaders. The only difference between the cases is that the original whip of the NCP also switched sides with Ajit Pawar. In case of the Sena, its original whip Sunil Prabhu remained with the Thackeray group and the rebel side appointed Bharat Gogawale as the new whip. The arguments in front of the assembly speaker in the NCP case are likely to be held in the coming week.
