Its Kerala member P C Chcko said after the meeting here that eight resolutions were adopted in the meeting to help Sharad Pawar fight back. In one of the resolutions, the meeting ratified the decision of expelling Ajit Pawar and eight others who joined the Maharashtra’s coalition government of Shiv Sena and BJP, as also the expulsion of working president Praful Patel, NCP MP Sunil Tatkare made the Maharashtra NCP chief and S R Kohli.
After the NCP meeting was over, former Congress President Rahul Gandhi called on him at his residence and told him that all opposition leaders he had spoken are with him and he should concentrate on not only strengthening his party in Maharashtra and also work for unity of the opposition parties in Bengaluru on July 17 and 18.
Ajit Pawar, who has taken over as the national president of the rival faction in place of his uncle, however said the Delhi meeting has no legal sanctity and any decisions taken by the Sharad Power group in the so-called meetings of the working committee and office-bearers do not affect the NCP members in any case until the Election Commission decides the legality of the party split.
In a statement issued from Mumbi, Ajit Pawar challenged Sharad Pawar’s authority to call the meeting in Delhi, saying he is no longer the head of the party. “Sharad Pawar has ‘no legal sanctity whatsoever’ and has no valid legal basis and shall not be binding on anyone in the party,” a statement issued by NCP (Ajit Pawar) said.
One of the resolutions in Delhi meeting condemned Praful Patel for a lie to the Election Commission on the party’s national executive electing Ajit as the party president last Friday, two days before he was sworn in as the deputy chief minister. The resolution asserted that there was no such meeting nor any evidence in its support.
The resolution also endorsed the letter sent to the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker to disqualify expeditiously Ajit and eight others who were sworn in as the ministers on Sunday, without the endorsement by the party. “Sharad Pawar was elected national president; we don’t take seriously claims of someone being national president,” Chacko said.
On Ajit Pawar claiming that he wants to be the chief minister, Sharad Pawar said he has no problem in his wish but whether his own age is 82 or 92 is meaningless as it makes no difference since his purpose is to take the party forward as its president and he does not give importance to what others say. He reiterated that he is the president of the NCP and the organisation is still intact as Thursday’s meeting “only helped boost our morale that I am still effective even at the age of 82.”
Sources in Sharad Pawar camp said the Election Commission can’t unilaterally act on the rival faction’s claim over the party name and its electoral symbol since there is no evidence of any such meeting held on June 30 as claimed. As a precaution, their group has already filed a caveat on the EC to bind it to consult it before taking any decision on the Ajit Pawar group.
Late P A Sangma, who had joined with Sharad Pawar and others in 1999 to split from the Congress, wanted him removed from the presidentship after differences but the Election Commission cited the NCP constitution that did not permit his removal since it declared him as the lifetime president. Nobody noticed this at the time of the formation of the party, nor has Sharad Pawar played that card so far.
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