No split in NCP, says Praful Patel; Sharad Pawar not to approach EC now

Mumbai: Dismissing Thursday’s decisions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) working committee, Praful Patel, who swore allegiance to Ajit Pawar, on Friday said that the party’s “entire organisational structure is flawed” and “there is no split in the party.”

Reiterating that the working committee has no legal sanctity, Patel said, “Our organisational structure is flawed as most of the office-bearers are appointed by some or the other person, which is against the NCP’s constitution, and thus the working committee cannot take the decision.”

On Thursday, the NCP chief Sharad Pawar called a national working committee in Delhi which ratified the decision of expelling all nine MLAs, including Ajit Pawar and two MPs — Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare — for anti-party activities.

Also Read: Ajit faction appoints office-bearers while dismissing Sharad Pawar camp

Patel, who was appointed as national working president by Ajit, said that the internal party elections were not held in many years and insisted that the recent Supreme Court verdict (in the Shiv Sena case) does not apply to them. “Our case is not related to a split or merger, it is intra-party differences, and hence the apex court verdict does not apply here,” he added.

He further said that the decisions taken by their faction are valid, and they have followed the due process mentioned in NCP’s constitution.

Meanwhile, Sharad Pawar-led NCP has decided not to approach the election commission (EC) even after Ajit declared himself as the new national president of the party. Pawar faction leaders said they have filed the caveat with the EC which is enough for now.

Brijmohan Shrivastav, national secretary, NCP said that they are not in a hurry as they have followed all the due process, which was submitted to EC then. “We have decided not to approach the EC at this juncture. We will respond to them if they decide to verify the claims made by Ajit Pawar,” he added.

According to NCP insiders, Sharad Pawar was elected unopposed in the national convention of the party held in September last year. The convention also decided to give all the powers to the national president to select his own executive committee, which will be considered as elected.

Ajit faction on Friday challenged the national convention claiming it was an open session.

“They are trying to justify their actions now,” Shrivastav said, adding that before the convention, a national working committee was held that ratified all the decisions taken in the last three years of the Covid-19 pandemic and also decided the agenda for the national convention.