Why Maharashtra Speaker Rahul Narwekar is being accused of interfering in civic polls

Last week, following a complaint by the Congress against Narwekar, the SEC had written to BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani seeking a report on the matter.

In more ways than one, Narwekar, whose stint in the chair has been controversial, stands out when it comes to the polls. Before the Opposition pointed fingers at him, questions had been raised within the BJP at party tickets to three of Narwekar’s relatives, all in wards in Colaba, represented by him as an MLA.

The Opposition has also questioned the presence of Narwekar, given his Constitutional position, at Returning Officers’ (RO) premises when nominations were being filed by candidates across parties, alleging that the CCTV footage recording the process had been tampered with.

Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray sought his resignation as Speaker over the issue.

Now the 48-year-old is fighting allegations that he ensured that the nominations of many candidates in Ward Nos. 225, 226 and 227, from which his relatives are contesting, were rejected.

Narwekar’s brother and former sitting councillor Makrand Narwekar is contesting from Ward No. 226; he is only facing one opponent, an Independent, after the nomination and withdrawal process. Makrand’s wife Harshita Narwekar, a municipal councillor from Cuffe Parade area, is contesting from Ward No. 225, and facing two opponents, from the Shiv Sena and Sena (UBT), respectively. Narwekar’s sister Gauri Shivalkar, the third family member in the race, is contesting from Ward No. 227, and facing just a Sena (UBT) rival.

The average number of candidates per ward in the BMC is seven. Across the 2,869 wards in 29 corporations going to polls on January 15, 15,931 candidates are in the race, working out to around six candidates per ward.

While the wards won uncontested stand at 69 this time, in the last round of civic polls, this number stood at 11, and in the cycle before that, at 10, as per an analysis by The Indian Express.

Narwekar has denied the charges against him as “fabricated”. “I did not have any role in the nomination process. I neither intimidated nor stopped anybody from filing nominations.”

When Narwekar’s family ended up with tickets from three wards, there were open murmurs at BJP headquarters over “the two sets of rules”. The party top brass had earlier directed that tickets not be given to relatives of ministers, MLAs and MPs.

A senior BJP functionary said, “In the BMC, every seat is important. Narwekar’s relatives may have got tickets on the winnability factor, but the unrest was evident.”

Senior JD(S) leader and former MP Haribhau Rathod is among those who has accused Narwekar of interfering with the election process, claiming he blocked the nominations of at least 12 candidates across Ward No.s 224, 225, 226 and 227.

Rathod, an OBC leader, told The Indian Express: “My son Neeraj was to contest from Ward No. 226. We completed the process, filing the deposit amount and receiving a receipt, on December 30 (the last date for nominations). But then police told us to wait outside, even arranging tea for us claiming that the premises of the RO had got overcrowded. When we returned to submit the form, the RO announced that the deadline of 5 pm was over. He also indicated that nobody had informed him that there were people waiting to file nominations.”

Rathod adds that Narwekar had pressured ROs to go slow. “The Speaker wanted to ensure his relatives get elected unopposed. As a result, we were not allowed to submit our nomination papers.” He claims that the other nomination forms across four wards were not accepted by ROs on the same ground.

Rathod also accuses Narwekar of “threatening to withdraw police security and all privileges” to him.

AAP leader Sanjay Singh has circulated a video purportedly showing Narwekar threatening Rathod.

Congress president Harshvardhan Sapkal accused Narwekar of undermining the autonomy of the Speaker’s office. “The BJP has made a mockery of the election process. The Speaker of a state Assembly is expected to be apolitical. What was he doing at the RO office? How can he proactively participate in the election process and exercise his Constitutional authority? Moreover, he is actively campaigning for his relatives.”

Sapkal has also accused that 70 officers and employees from Narwekar’s office “are actively participating in the campaign”.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said, “From all reports, it is evident that the Speaker was in the RO office to ensure that nominations of Opposition candidates were not accepted… Unfortunately, the Speaker will get away and ROs will be made the scapegoat.”

Incidentally, Rathod’s party JD(S) on Monday withdrew its complaint against ROs in Colaba over alleged irregularities due to Narwekar’s meddling.

Narwekar cited this, saying: “The JD(S) withdrew its complaint after the nomination papers of two of its three candidates were accepted… It didn’t even know the status of its own nominations and was trying to create a fake narrative against me.”

On the Opposition’s charge of misuse of power, Narwekar said the authorities concerned would look into the matter. Dismissing Uddhav Thackeray’s demand for his resignation, he said: “There are old wounds which hurt more in winter.”

Rathod said that the JD(S) may have withdrawn its complaint, but he would pursue his personal one against Narwekar. “The rest of the Opposition is also united and determined to pursue the complaint against ROs and the Speaker.”

Earlier, Narwekar’s role as Speaker had come under a cloud following the splits in the Shiv Sena and NCP in 2022 and 2023, with non-BJP parties accusing him of delaying acting on petitions seeking the disqualification of defecting MLAs. The Supreme Court had pulled up Narwekar over the issue.