Neelam Gorhe issues notice to 8 NCP MLCs of rival factions seeking replies on disqualification pleas

The Deputy Chairperson of the Maharashtra Legislative Council, Neelam Gorhe, has sent notices to eight Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLCs from two opposing factions, requesting them to provide responses concerning pleas for their disqualification.

The notices were issued on December 7 to the eight members of the legislative council - Satish Chavan, Aniket Tatkare, Vikram Kale, Amol Mitkari, Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar (belonging to the Ajit Pawar-led camp of the NCP), and Eknath Khadse, Shashikant Shinde and Arun Lad (from the Sharad Pawar faction), a source said.

The notices were issued in accordance with the Maharashtra Legislative Council (Disqualification on ground of Defection) Rules, 1986. The MLCs were instructed to submit their defense documents to the Deputy Chairperson within seven days of receiving the notice. If the legislators do not submit written responses along with the documents to the deputy chairperson within seven days, then it will be considered that they do not have anything to say in the matter and then a decision would be taken accordingly, the notice said.

On July 2, Ajit Pawar and eight MLAs from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) joined the Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government under Eknath Shinde. This move resulted in a division within the NCP, originally founded by Sharad Pawar in 1999. Subsequently, the Sharad Pawar camp filed petitions aiming for the disqualification of five MLCs who defected to the Ajit Pawar faction, while the opposing group sought the disqualification of three council members aligned with the party's founder.