A day after the vertical split in his party, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar on July 3 announced the expulsion of MPs Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare for their “anti-party activities”.
Both, Mr. Patel and Mr. Tatkare, once trusted lieutenants of the Maratha strongman, have sided with the newly sworn-in Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar, in his rebellion.
The action comes after the party’s national president and Baramati MP Supriya Sule recommended disciplinary action against the two MPs for “indulging in anti-party activities by facilitating and spearheading” Sunday’s swearing-in of nine NCP MLAs, including Mr. Ajit Pawar, as State Cabinet Ministers in the Eknath Shinde government. Mr. Tatkare’s daughter, Aditi Sunil Tatkare, was among the Ministers who took oath.
Top NCP leaders have alleged that Mr. Patel, a former Union Minister, “struck a deal” between Mr. Ajit Pawar and the BJP, and engineered the coup in the party, which was founded by Mr. Sharad Pawar in 1999.
Follow the latest Maharashtra NCP crisis updates: July 3, 2023 here.
“I, as the National President, of Nationalist Congress Party hereby order the removal of the names of Shri Sunil Tatkare and Shri Praful Patel from the Register of Members of NCP Party for anti-party activities,” the 82-year-old NCP patriarch tweeted, tagging Mr. Patel and Mr. Tatkare.
In his letter, Mr. Sharad Pawar informed the two MPs of their disqualification from the primary membership of the party, and asked them to refrain from misrepresenting before any forum that they had any association with the NCP. “Any such act of misrepresentation would be absolutely unlawful and illegal,” he said.
Late on Sunday, NCP leader Jayant Patil said that the party had moved a disqualification petition to Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar against the nine MLAs. The party has also written to the Election Commission of India. “The nine legislators have engaged in anti-party activities, and the moment they took the oath, they stand disqualified,” Mr. Jayanti Patil said.
He added that MLAs from the rival Ajit Pawar camp were in contact with his party chief Mr. Sharad Pawar and himself, and had expressed their discontentment with Monday’s events. “They are in touch with us and will return soon. First, they should visit their respective constituencies and have discussions with voters regarding their decision to leave Mr. Sharad Pawar before taking any further decisions. We have taken action against only nine MLAs who took oath today, and so far nothing against the other MLAs,” Mr. Jayanti Patil said.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Narwekar confirmed the receipt of the disqualification petition against nine NCP MLAs and said he was unaware of the exact number of legislators supporting the rebel, Mr. Ajit Pawar. “I have no idea about the number of MLAs in support of Mr. Ajit Pawar,” Mr. Narwekar said.
“Dada [as Mr. Ajit Pawar is known] will always remain my elder brother. I would be very happy if they [the party rebels] return back. I was not privy to any information and it appears that the BJP lacks confidence ahead of the 2024 elections. Our party is a very democratic party,” Ms. Sule said.
