The Supreme Court on Monday sought the responses of Ajit Pawar and his 40 MLAs on a plea moved by the Sharad Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party challenging Maharashtra assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar's decision declaring the group led by the deputy chief minister as the real NCP.
The returnees also included three independent MLAs, who too had landed in Panchkula on Tuesday after casting their votes in the Rajya Sabha election.
Sources said the report of the law panel on simultaneous polls is not yet finalised. They said "some more things are required to be done", indicating that the law panel will be invited again by the high-level committee.
Himachal Pradesh's ruling Congress Member of Legislative Assembly Ram Kumar, arrested in a murder case in adjacent Haryana, was on Wednesday suspended from primary membership of the party. Pradesh Congress Committee chief Sukhvinder Singh Sukkhu said Kumar had also been removed from the post of general secretary forthwith. His suspension would remain in force till he was absolved of the murder charge.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday named its candidates for assembly bypolls in several states, fielding six disqualified MLAs of the Himachal Pradesh assembly in the state days after they joined the party after leaving the Congress.
Addressing a meeting of party workers in Hassan on Monday, she said, her name will be officially declared soon.
