New Delhi: The rebel faction of the Nationalist Congress Party removed Sharad Pawar from the top post of the party he founded and led for over two decades, just two days before their mutiny. Ajit Pawar was elected the party chief by around 40 MLAs, MLCs and MPs -- a step calculated to negate any legal hurdle -- the Election Commission has been informed.
Sources in the Election Commission said according to the rebels' letter, they had named Ajit Pawar as party president on June 30 -- days before his shock move of crossing over to the ruling alliance and taking oath as Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister. Around 40 MLAs, MPs and MLCs had signed affidavits that day supporting the rebels, sources said.
In the Shiv Sena split case, the Supreme Court had said earlier this year that a legislative party cannot function independently of the political party. This means a group of MLAs cannot claim to have taken a decision on their own and seek shelter under the Anti-Defection law just by proving majority.
Unseating Sharad Pawar and placing Ajit Pawar in the driving seat give the effect that his camp is the political party.
The rebel faction has repeatedly claimed that they are the real NCP and have claimed the party name and symbol from the Election Commission.
Sources in the Election Commission said they have also received a letter from Sharad Pawar loyalist Jayant Patil, informing them about the disqualification proceedings against some of the rebel MPs and MLAs.
The rebel faction on Wednesday paraded 29 MLAs and only 17 turned up to support Sharad Pawar. But some MLAs appeared to have switched sides and some did not show up at all. If the Election Commission does not accept his argument, Ajit Pawar would need at least 36 MLAs to avoid action.
Sharad Pawar has said he would prefer to disregard numbers and even poll symbols, while assuring supporters that they would not be deprived of the symbol.
"Today's discussion is who has how many MLAs are with us. I don't pay attention to this. In the past I had 68 MLAs, when I went out for some time, 62 left us, I had just six... In the election, out of 62, only four could come back. We won with new faces," he said.
"If someone says that they will take our symbol -- let me tell you that the symbol of the party will be with us, it won't go anywhere. If the ideology of the party is with the workers, we don't have to worry... I have contested on a number of symbols," he added.
The numbers that turned up for Ajit Pawar today falls short of the two-thirds needed for legal protection against action under the anti-defection law. Sharad Pawar, though, has indicated that he would prefer not to take the legal route and wait for the people's verdict.
The script has so far been playing out the way it did for Eknath Shinde when he broke away from the Shiv Sena last year.
Ajit Pawar, who has taken oath as Deputy Chief Minister thrice in the last four years, today said he would prefer to be the Chief Minister one day. He even slammed his uncle, a four-time Chief Minister of the state, questioning why he should continue to lead the party at his age.
"In other parties, leaders retire after an age. In BJP, leaders retire at 75, when are you going to stop? You should also give new people a chance. If we make mistakes, tell us. Your age is 83, will you ever stop or not? You give us blessings," said the 63-year-old.