The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) filed a disqualification petition with the assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar against its nine leaders, including Ajit Pawar, late Sunday night. The development came hours after these party leaders joined the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance in Maharashtra in a surprise and dramatic political move.

A similar case was handled by the poll body when the Shiv Sena party got split into two — the Eknath Shinde camp and the Uddhav Thackeray camp. On a petition filed by the Uddhav Thackeray camp seeking disqualification of 16 rebel MLAs, the Supreme Court had asked the Speaker of Maharashtra Assembly, Rahul Narwekar, to decide the fate of 16 Shiv Sena MLAs, including Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who were accused of anti-party activities.

In the recent turn of events, Jayant Patil said the nine NCP leaders, who took oath on Sunday, "have done anti-party activity and so the party will take action according to the party's rule". He added that the disqualification petition was filed with the Maharashtra Speaker through WhatsApp, mail and even a physical copy was sent because, he said, "the Speaker didn't responded to my repeated made calls".

"We have filed a disqualification petition with the speaker of the assembly... This disqualification petition was filed against nine leaders," NCP leader Jayant Patil said in a press conference. He said, "I have also written a letter to the Election Commission (EC)..."

The NCP leader said that one party leader wrote to "our disciplinary committee about the nine MLAs and accordingly, the action is initiated by the party". "We are not accepting this; these nine leaders didn't inform us before doing this (leaving the party). We believe most of the MLAs will come back to the NCP, and we will accept them again," Patil said.

In a surprising move on Sunday, NCP leader Ajit Pawar took oath as Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister, with eight other party legislators also joining the National Democratic Alliance government in the state. Ajit Pawar said all MLAs are with him, and they have joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government as a party.

"We have all the numbers. All MLAs are with me. We are here as a party. We have informed all seniors as well. The majority is given importance in a democracy. Our party is 24 years old and young leadership should come forward," Ajit Pawar said after taking oath as Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra.

However, the NCP supremo and Ajit Pawar's uncle Sharad Pawar said Ajit Pawar and the other eight MLAs did not have his support. "We live in a democratic country where everyone has the right to speak for themselves and keep their points. Ajit Pawar's move is his own decision and point of view." Sharad Pawar said, "This is not 'googly', it is a robbery" and that he was worried about the future of those who left the party.

Meanwhile, NCP working president Supriya Sule said that Ajit Pawar joining the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis Maharashtra government is "painful" but her relationship with him would remain the same. "My relationship with Ajit Pawar will not change, he will always remain my elder brother. We will rebuild the party," said NCP MP Supriya Sule.

First Published:Jul 3, 2023 7:51 AM IST