Determine Who Represents NCP and if it is a part of the government or the opposition: Maha Speaker

Rahul Narwekar, the Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, said on Tuesday that he must first determine “who represents it” and if the Nationalist Congress Party is in the majority or opposition in the House.

Since Ajit Pawar and eight other NCP MLAs joined the Shiv Sena-BJP administration two days ago, Jayant Patil, the state NCP president, has filed a plea with Narwekar asking for their disqualification.

“Since there is not an official separation, I am unable to break the NCP into two groups. Narwekar said to a Marathi news station, “I shall have to determine whether the NCP is in control or not (in the Assembly).

The Speaker responded to Patil’s letter by saying, “I shall first have to identify who represents the NCP as a political party. Patil had nominated a new whip and Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly. Then I’ll evaluate whether they have enough MLA support to enact such reforms.

The Sharad Pawar-led party has not divided, according to a petition that Narwekar said his office had not received.

Prior to taking the oath as deputy CM on Sunday, Ajit Pawar served as the Assembly’s Leader of the Opposition.

53 MLAs from the NCP make up the 288-member Assembly.