Sharad Pawar taking legal opinion on NCP crisis: party sources

Nationalist Congress Party NCP chief Sharad Pawar is seeking legal opinion to tackle the crisis in the party caused by his nephew Ajit Pawar joining the Shiv SenaBJP government and claiming the support of the bulk of MLAs party sources said on TuesdaySharad Pawar who returned from Satara on Monday night is holding discussions with legal experts on how to handle the ongoing developments said NCP national spokesperson Clyde CrastoTaking a legal opinion is necessary as this issue concerns Schedule 10 of the constitution he saidThe 10th Schedule which talks about the antidefection law is designed to prevent political defections prompted by the lure of office material benefits or similar considerations It also deals with the issue of disqualification on the ground of defection and the role of the speaker or the chairman of the HouseAccording to Crasto the Ajit Pawarled group doesnt enjoy the support of more than 13 MLAs and can attract the provisions of the AntiDefection LawA clear picture of the support of Sharad Pawar will emerge tomorrow Wednesday at the meeting convened by Sharad Pawar at 1 pm Crasto saidThe Ajit Pawar camp had claimed the support of at least 40 out of 53 MLAs of NCPNotably when asked by reporters if he would take legal recourse after Ajit Pawar took oath as deputy chief minister on Sunday Sharad Pawar had said he would not get into all this but will go among peopleThe NCP had moved a petition before Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar seeking the disqualification of Ajit Pawar and eight other MLAs who have taken oath as ministers in the Eknath Shindeled governmentA day earlier the NCP chief removed the partys working president Praful Patel and general secretary Sunil Tatkare for engaging in antipartyiquest activities after they attended the swearingin ceremony of Ajit PawarThe Ajit Pawar camp has asked the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker to disqualify Jayant Patil and Jitendra Awhad from membership of the HousePatel on Monday appointed Ajit Pawar as the leader of the NCP legislature party and Sunil Tatkare as the president of the state NCP unitThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever