Mumbai July 4 : Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Monday expelled senior leaders Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare for “anti-party activities”, a day after the duo attended the swearing-in ceremony of Ajit Pawar and eight other NCP MLAS as ministers of the NDA government in the state.
“I, as the National President, Nationalist Congress Party hereby order removal of the names of Shri Sunil Tatkare and Shri Praful Patel from the Register of Members of NCP Party for anti-party activities,” Pawar said in a tweet.
Pawar’s tweet came shortly after the party’s working president MP Surpiya Sule wrote to him requesting the removal of the two leaders and seeking disciplinary action against them.
“Mr.Sunil Tatkare and Mr. Praful Patel on 2nd July 2023 acted in direct contravention of the Party Constitution and Rules, amounting to desertion and disqualification from the party membership, ” Sule wrote on Twitter.Earlier, in a letter to Pawar, Sule alleged that the two leaders acted in “direct contravention” of the party constitution and rules, and requested Pawar to take “immediate action”.
He also requested Pawar to “file disqualification petitions under the 10th Schedule of the Constitution of India before the Competent Authority against them for engaging in anti-party activities.”
Patel, a former union minister, has been a longtime confidant of the NCP supremo, and has been described by political watchers as Pawar’s right-hand man and crisis manager.
Tatkare is also considered close to Pawar, and has hold in the state’s coastal belt.
In a stunning political development in the state, Ajit Pawar – the nephew of party chief Sharad Pawar – on Sunday split the legislative party and joined the state’s NDA ministry with eight other MLAs.
Ajit Pawar, so long the leader of the opposition, took over as the second Deputy Chief Minister (after BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis) in the presence of Patel and Tatkare.
Although Patel did not take oath as state minister, there is speculation that he may be inducted into the Union ministry.
