Defying Sharad Pawar Not Defection: Maharashtra Speaker Top Quotes From Today's Verdict

Maharashtra Speaker Rahul Narwekar ruled on February 15 that Ajit Pawar's faction was the 'real' NCP when two factions emerged in July 2023.

'All the petitions seeking disqualification of MLAs are rejected,' Narwekar said.

The Maharashtra Assembly Speaker said: 'I hold that the Ajit Pawar faction enjoys an overwhelming majority within the NCP'.

'It is upon the Ajit Pawar faction to decide upon the disqualification petitions,' Rahul Narwekar said.

'In my view, petitioner should not use 10th schedule to crush opposition. The 10th schedule should not be used to impose interparty discipline,' Narwekar said.

While pronouncing the verdict on the disqualification pleas of NCP MLAs, the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker said: 'Dissent is not defection, and not every split is a case of defection'.

Maharashtra Speaker Rahul Narwekar: 'Going against the will of Shri Sharad Pawar cannot be considered as defection'.

'The NCP constitution, read with the NCP rules, provides that the President (of the party) shall preside over the national convention, national committee and the working committee, and shall have overall control over the working of the party,' he ruled.

The Speaker ruled that the actions and statements of Ajit Pawar's faction between June 30 and July 2 last year were not acts of defection but intra-party dissent.