Speaker starts sending notices to both factions of NCP MLAs

Mumbai: Following a petition by the Sharad Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) which wants the disqualification petition against the rebel MLAs to be expedited, the Maharashtra assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar has initiated the procedure of the disqualification petitions filed by both the factions of NCP. The speaker’s office sent notices to both factions and sought their responses within seven days.

Both factions of NCP have filed disqualification petitions before the Speaker following which the notices have been served.

On Friday, eight MLAs from Sharad Pawar-led NCP received notices issued under Schedule 10 of the Constitution of India. The MLAs are Anil Deshmukh, Rajesh Tope, Rohit Pawar, Sunil Bhusara, Prajakt Tanpure, Balasaheb Patil, Sandeep Kshirsagar and Suman Patil. While 30 MLAs from the Ajit Pawar-led faction also received the notices thus far.

“We have received a disqualification petition against you following which you are expected to submit a response within the next seven days after receiving the same,” states the notice sent from the office of Assembly Speaker.

“We have received notices only yesterday in which we have been asked to submit our replies within seven days,” said an MLA from Pawar-led NCP.

“They claim to have elected Ajit Pawar as the new national president but we have not received any intimation of such a meeting and now this notice. It is so ridiculous,” said one of the MLAs from the Pawar faction.

Another MLA from the Ajit-led faction also confirmed that 30 of them have received such notices. “We have sought four weeks from the Speaker’s office to reply to the notices,” he said.

After a split led by deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, Pawar led party filed disqualification petitions against 40 of 53 MLAs and five MLCs. In retaliation, the Ajit-led camp has also filed a disqualification petition against 10 NCP MLAs.

A senior official from the state legislature confirmed the notices to the NCP MLAs. “We have sent notices to MLAs from both the factions as the disqualification petition was filed from both sides,” he said wishing to remain anonymous.

In the first week of October, the Sharad Pawar group approached the Supreme Court seeking directives to Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar to take action against rebel MLAs for shifting loyalty to Ajit Pawar, who is also Pawar’s nephew and has joined the Shiv Sena-BJP coalition government as deputy chief minister on July 2.

The SC clubbed the petitions of Shiv Sena and NCP and on October 13 rapped the Assembly Speaker for delay in taking a decision on the petitions filed by both the opposition parties.