On Wednesday, NCP Rajya Sabha MP Vandana Chavan and the party’s working president, Supriya Sule, from the Sharad Pawar faction, met with Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankar, who also serves as the RS chairman. Their objective was to advocate for the disqualification of rebel MP Praful Patel, citing alleged violations of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution.
Confirming the meeting’s purpose, Sule stated that Chavan had initially submitted the NCP’s petition for Patel’s disqualification on July 4. Given the absence of a response, they sought a meeting with Dhankar as a “reminder” to address the matter. In a parallel development, the Ajit Pawar faction submitted separate petitions to Dhankar, seeking the disqualification of two RS MPs from the Sharad Pawar faction, Vandana Chavan and Fauzia Khan. Sule also filed an independent petition for the disqualification of rebel MP Sunil Tatkare.
Chavan’s petition against Patel, under Section 2(a) of the Tenth Schedule, alleges defection grounds, with the Sharad Pawar faction contending that Patel has willingly relinquished party membership.