The Ajit Pawar faction on Wednesday, 5 July, issued a statement to allege that the appointment to the post of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president, which is currently being held by Sharad Pawar, is 'flawed' and did not follow the procedure stated in the party's constitution.
The statement also claimed that most party leaders and MLAs supporting Ajit Pawar had passed a resolution to appoint him as president of the NCP on 30 June, two days before he took oath as the deputy chief minister on 2 July.
"At present, the entire structure of the NCP including the post of President is heavily flawed in as much as none of the appointments has been made in terms of the provisions of the NCP Constitution. No election process for any post including that of the President has been followed," it said.
The faction also claimed that the National President (Sharad Pawar) as well as all the other office bearers were appointed in an 'alleged' National Convention on 10-11 September 2022, but the appointment is void since there is "absolutely no record of the persons who attended the national convention and voted in favour of Shri Sharad Pawar."
Claiming attempts to 'spread fear' in the cadre and leaders since Ajit's oath-taking, here are the key claims made by the Ajit Pawar faction in the statement:
'Jayant Patil's Appointment, Praful Patel's Expulsion Illegal': Ajit Faction
A resolution dated 30 June 2023 signed by overwhelming majority of members of NCP was passed thereby electing Ajit Pawar as the president of NCP.
The NCP also decided to appoint Ajit Pawar as the leader of NCP Legislative Party in the Maharashtra Legislative assembly and the said decision was also ratified by the resolution passed by an overwhelming majority of NCP MLAs.
The office bearers appointed on various committees of NCP are not holding the office legally since there appointments are also "de-hors the constitution of NCP."
The earlier appointment of Jayant Patil as the state president of Maharashtra NCP was patently illegal since the same was done without following any procedure mandated by the constitution of NCP.
Disqualification petitions have also been filed by Anil Bhaidas Patil against Jayant Patil and Jitendra Awhad. Thus, there are rival disqualification petitions pending on the file of the Hon’ble Speaker.
In the absence of any decision by the Election Commission (EC), the expulsion of Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare from the party are without any authority of law and thus illegal. The faction further said that the ECI will have the sole authority to decide on the party symbol and no decisions or expulsions are valid till the EC decides on the fate of the NCP.
The faction also said that the appointments of the Leader of Opposition and the party's chief whip will be decided by the Speaker.
'I Am the Party President': Sharad Pawar
In a press briefing after a party meeting Delhi, Sharad Pawar said that he is the president of the NCP.
"I don't know what they did. I am the president of NCP. If they say they are president, there is no sense to that statement," he said.
Reacting to Ajit's comments o his age, Sharad Pawar said: "Now, I will work more effectively, whether I am 82 or 92."
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