I want to be chief minister, says Ajit Pawar, approaches EC to claim NCP name, party symbol
Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar
Just days after he led a mutiny against his uncle Sharad Pawar,Maharashtra's new deputy chief minister Ajit Pawarsaid on Wednesday that he aspires to be the chief minister one day.
The faction led by Ajit Pawar also knocked on the doors of the Election Commission on Wednesday to claim the name and symbol of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) as the group is apparently leading the number game.The group has filed over 40 affidavits of MLAs and MPs in his support.
Ajit also pointedto the retirement age of government servants and BJP leaders and urged NCPpresident Sharad Pawar to pass on the baton to the new generation.
Addressing the party workers, Ajit Pawar said, "IAS officers retire at 60. Even in politics, BJP leaders retire at 75. You can see the example of LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi. You (Sharad Pawar) are 83, aren't you going to stop? Give us your blessings and we will pray that you live a long life."
Meanwhile, the Election Commission has also received a caveat from Maharashtra NCP president Jayant Patil that they have initiated a disqualification process against nine MLAs.
Sharad Pawar claimed that he will "not allow anyone to snatch"' the name and symbol away.
Addressingparty workers at Yashwantrao Chavan Centre, Pawar said, "There is no need to worry. The party symbol is with us, it is not going anywhere. The people and party workers who brought us to power are with us."
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A total of 35 of 53 NCP MLAs and five of the eight MLCs were present at the party meeting held by Ajit Pawar, who joined the Shiv Sena-BJP cabinet and took oath as deputy chief minister of the state.
The two factions of the NCP held separate meetings in Mumbai. Both sides even appointed their own chief whips amid the ongoing political crisis in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The chief whip for the Sharad Pawar faction will be Jitendra Awhad while Anil Patil has been appointed by the Ajit faction.
The Ajit group met at the Mumbai Education Trust (MET) premises in suburban Bandra at 11:00 am (IST) and the Sharad Pawar faction gathered at the YB Chavan Centre in south Mumbai around 1:00pm (IST) for its meeting as the battle for the party rages on.
Sharad Pawar said, "Some of my colleagues have taken a different stand. I had called a meeting of all the leaders on 6th July where some important issue was to be discussed and some changes were to be made within the party but before that meeting, some of the leaders have taken a different stand."
With 53 NCP MLAs in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly, Ajit would need the support of at least 36 to avoid disqualification under the anti-defection rules, and to win the claim over the party and its election symbol.
Both Pawar factions held separate meetings in a show of strength on Wednesday. While Ajit Pawar claimed the support of over 40 MLAs and MLCs, about 29 MLAs were seen on the stage at the meeting called by him. Sharad Pawar faction paraded 17 MLAs.
The NCP has 53 MLAs in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.
What is anti-defection law?
According to the law, a group of lawmakers can only quit one party to join another if they have the backing of at least two-thirds of the original party's total MLAs.
It also establishes the procedure by which legislators may be disqualified and removed from their respective legislative assembly based on a petition by any other member of that House to the Presiding Officer of the legislature.
A legislator is said to have defected and switched sides if he or she leaves his or her party of choice or votes against the party leadership's wishes on a vote.
(With inputs from agencies)
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