Maha speaker's boost for Ajit Pawar in NCP vs NCP

Maharashtra assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar ruled on Thursday that deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar's party was the real Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and turned down demands to disqualify either faction's lawmakers, marking a victory for the state's ruling coalition just months ahead of general elections.

- Faisal Malik

The decision which came weeks after the Election Commission of India also ruled against NCP patriarch Sharad Pawar - is another jolt to the senior leader. Narwekar held that the test of legislative majority was decided in favour of Ajit Pawar after the other two grounds-party constitution and leadership structure -were found to be inconclusive.

The decision was similar to Narwekar's ruling in the Sena vs Sena case in January, where he also found in favour of chief minister Eknath Shinde but refused to disqualify lawmakers of either faction. The battle for both regional behemoths, the Sena and the NCP, is now likely to be decided in the Supreme Court.

"...I hold that the preliminary issue as to which faction is the real political party is discernible from the legislative majority, which existed when the rival factions emerged. Further I hold that the Ajit Pawar faction had an overwhelming legislative majority when the rival factions emerged," Narwekar said in a 22-page ruling.

The speaker who had been asked by the apex court to announce his decision by February 15- dismissed disqualification petitions filed by either faction, saying that the grounds mentioned did not fall under the jurisdiction of the 10th schedule of the Constitution that deals with the defection of elected representatives.

He, however, decided to reserve his verdict on the chief whip of the party, which is expected to come within a week.

The decision sparked a political controversy.

Sharad Pawar faction leader Jitendra Awhad called it a ridiculous judgment. "The assembly speaker Narwekar is playing the role of Dhritarashtra and has become shameless," he said.