After the dramatic turn of events that saw Nationalist Congress Party leaders Ajit Pawar and eight others join the NDA government in Maharashtra, the Sharad Pawar-led party said it has moved a disqualification petition against the leaders who jumped ship.

“We have filed a disqualification petition with the speaker of the Assembly, and we will send hard copies as soon as possible. This disqualification petition was filed against nine leaders,” Maharashtra NCP president Jayant Patil said at a press conference held late Sunday evening.

Also Read: ‘Rebels not our enemies’: Sharad Pawar breaks silence as Ajit Pawar makes a dash for NDA

Patil said that the petition has been sent to Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Navrekar. “They didn’t inform anyone that they were leaving the party, which is against the NCP. We have also written a letter to the Election Commission of India. We are not accepting this; these nine leaders didn’t inform us before doing this,” he added.

Patil further said that the party believed that most of the MLAs will return to the NCP. “And we will accept them again,” he said, adding that the MLAs who rebelled “cannot be called traitors” since “their betrayal has not been proven”.

“Many of them are still in touch with us,” Patil claimed.

Also Read: What next for NCP? After Ajit ‘jolt’, the options before Sharad Pawar

The remarks from the NCP came after Ajit Pawar, in a dramatic turn of events, took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra after convening an emergency meeting of NCP legislators. Eight other NCP MLAs, including senior party leaders like Praful Patel and Chhagan Bhujbal, were sworn-in as ministers.

Adressing a press meet after the swearin-in ceremony, Ajit Pawar claimed control over the NCP and declared that the party will contest the coming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in alliance with the NDA.

Also Read: Maharashtra: Ajit Pawar does an Eknath Shinde to NCP in 2019 deja vu

“We have all the numbers. All MLAs are with me. We are here as a party. We have informed all seniors as well. The majority is given importance in a democracy. Our party is 24 years old and young leadership should come forward,” Ajit Pawar said.

Reacting to the developments, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar said that he is worried about the future of the party, but claimed that he will leave no stone unturned to rebuild the NCP. Pawar said that the happenings on Sunday were not a “googly” but a “robbery” and said that the party will initiate action against some of the rebel leaders.