'Had Nana Patole not resigned as speaker, situation would have been different': Ajit Pawar on Sena tussle

According to Pawar, had Patole remained the Speaker, the 16 rebel Sena MLAs, including now CM Shinde, would have been disqualified

Amid the political tussle vis-a-vis the Supreme Court judgement in the June-2022 Shiv Sena split, NCP leader Ajit Pawar added a new dimension on Friday by raking up the resignation of Nana Patole as Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.

According to Pawar, had Patole not resigned, the present situation would have been different as the 16 rebel Sena MLAs, including present Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, would have been disqualified.

The Congress high-command, however, has not yet responded to Pawar's statement. Pawar was a former Deputy Chief Minister in the erstwhile Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government.

Also Read | BJP and morality contradictory to each other: Sharad Pawar

Patole was the first to revolt against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Maharashtra BJP, and resigned as a BJP MP from Bhandara-Gondiya in 2017, later joining the Congress.

In 2019, he contested the Sakoli seat and was elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. And when the Maha Vikas Aghadi government came to power, he was the Congress' first choice to be the Speaker - as the post of Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister went to Shiv Sena and NCP, respectively.

However, in February 2021, he resigned as Speaker and became the President of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee.

Also Read | Speaker must decide on disqualification of 16 MLAs at the earliest: Uddhav

After Patole resigned, Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal became the Interim Speaker, during which time the June-2022 Shiv Sena crisis occured.

“Had there been a Speaker from our side, the 16 MLAs would have been disqualified…the MVA should have moved faster after Patole's resignation and should have elected a new Speaker,” Ajit Pawar, the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, told reporters.

The issue of Patole's resignation was previously raised by NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut.

Reacting to Uddhav Thackeray’s demand that CM Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis should step down on "moral grounds", Pawar said, “…the demand is futile as there is a great difference between (former Prime Minister) Atal Bihari Vajpayee and those currently in power.”