Speaker's order sparks row, NCP whip still to be decided

Maharashtra assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar declared on Thursday that Ajit Pawar's faction was the real Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) but said the question of the whip will be decided separately even as the ruling sparked a political controversy.

- Saurabha Kulshreshtha

In his order from January where he had recognised the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena as the real party, he had also said that the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Sena will have to follow the whip issued by the Eknath Shinde-led Sena on the floor of the assembly.

But Thursday's case before the speaker was very different, said an official from the speaker's office.

"In the Shiv Sena case, both factions issued the whip to each other," he said. "But in the NCP matter, this was not the case. Since the issue of the whip was not up for consideration before the speaker, there was nothing on it in his order," said the official.

"However, the issue will have to be addressed for the smooth functioning of the legislature. As there is no voting for the Rajya Sabha elections, it will not be decided immediately. But the speaker is likely to decide within a week," added the official.

The dispute began in July 2023, when Ajit Pawar left his uncle Sharad Pawar and joined hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition in Maharashtra. Eight other lawmakers took oath as ministers with him.

The Ajit Pawar faction has named Anil Patil as its whip.

The Sharad Pawar faction named Jitendra Ahwad as its whip.

Anil Patil said that he will be the whip for all NCP lawmakers, including those from the Sharad Pawar faction.