Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on Monday said he was yet to ascertain whether the Nationalist Congress Party is a part of the Shiv Sena-BJP government or is till in the Opposition.

  

On Sunday, senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar led a vertical split in the party to become deputy chief minister in the one-year-old Shiv Sena-BJP government, shocking his uncle Sharad Pawar, who founded the outfit 24 years ago after quitting the Congress. Besides him, eight other NCP MLAs, including Chhagan Bhujbal and Hasan Mushrif, were sworn in as ministers in the Shinde cabinet.

Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, Narwekar said his office has not yet received any petition mentioning about a split in the party.

"I am yet to ascertain whether the NCP is a part of the state government or is still in the Opposition bloc. I will go through the details available before me and take a call on it," he said.

Ajit Pawar was the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly before he took oath as deputy CM.

"I have received only one petition from NCP MLA Jayant Patil seeking disqualification of nine MLAs (Ajit Pawar and 8 others who took oath as ministers along with him). There is no written communication from any other leader of the NCP, said the Speaker.

"I have not received any petition mentioning about a split in the party, he stated.

Asked how many NCP MLAs have expressed their support to Ajit Pawar, Narwekar said, "I do not have any information on it because there is no written communication from his side. The party-wise strength in the 

legislative Assembly still remains unchanged.

The Sharad Pawar-led party has 53 MLAs in the 288-member Assembly. -- PTI