Unfazed by the claims made by the party’s rebel faction that it enjoyed the support of 40 party MLAs, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP on Monday asserted that the breakaway group leader and newly sworn in deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar did not even have the support of 36 party MLAs, a number required to escape the provisions of the anti-defection law.
On his part, Ajit Pawar has steadfastly refused to spell out as to how many NCP MLAs were supporting him. However, the rebel faction is “leaking” information to the media that it had submitted a letter to Maharashtra Governor Ramesh Bais claiming that Ajit Pawar enjoyed the support of more than 40 MLAs and six out of the nine MLCs.
There is no confirmation as to whether Ajit Pawar had indeed given such a letter to the Governor. Seeking to counter the narrative being put out by the Ajit Pawar faction, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP went on record saying that “Ajit Pawar doesn’t have the support of 36 MLAs”. The NCP has 53 MLAs in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly and Ajit Pawar needs the support of at least 36 MLAs not to attract the provisions of anti-defection law. Talking to media persons here, NCP’s national spokesperson Clyde Crasto said that the party’s working president Supriya Sule and state unit chief Jayant Patil were contacting all the 53 MLAs and the picture will become clearer by Tuesday.
On his part, State Speaker Rahul Narvekar – while confirming that he had received the disqualification petition sent by State NCP president Jayant Patil against nine party MLAs – said that he was not aware of the exact number of MLAs who were supporting rebel leader Ajit Pawar.
“I have absolutely no idea as to how many MLAs are supporting Ajit Pawar,” Narwekar said. Jitendra Awhad, who has been appointed by the parent party as the new leader of the Opposition in State Assembly, dubbed the Ajit Pawar faction as a “kitty party” and did not enjoy the support of as many MLAs as claimed by it.
Joining issue with Ajit Pawar who had claimed after being sworn in as the Deputy chief minister in the Eknath Shinde-Fadnavis Government that there was no split in the NCP and it was the real inheritor of the NCP's name and symbol, Awhad said: “The Ajit Pawar faction is a kitty party.... The NCP belongs to Sharad Pawar. It is controlled by Sharad Pawar...Sharad Pawar is the president of the NCP and he has parental rights over the Party’s name and symbol”.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP and spokesperson Sanjay Raut set a cat among the pigeons by claiming that Maharashtra would soon get a new Chief Minister.
Raut also claimed that the days of Shiv Sena CM Eknath Shinde as the chief minister “are numbered” “At best, Shinde is a ‘kuchh dinon ka mehmaan’ ( a temporary guest).
The Speaker’s verdict on the disqualification of 16 MLAs including Shinde will come soon. The BJP has now come to a conclusion that Shinde has outlived his utility. It will use the impending verdict by the Speaker to remove Shinde from his position as the chief minister,” Raut said.
“After the Speaker’s ruling, there will be a change of guard in the state. Ajit Pawar is eyeing the top post. The state will get a new CM soon,” Raut reiterated.
Raut said that after its electoral debacle in Karnataka, the BJP had been rattled “All recent surveys have predicted another rout for the BJP in Maharashtra whenever the elections are held here. The BJP’s move to pouch Ajit Pawar and his men from the NCP is to salvage its position in the state. First the BJP broke the Shiv Sena and now it has engineered a split in the NCP. But, the people of the state are watching all this and will not spare the BJP in the elections,” he declared.
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