After dithering for three days on the issue of taking action against its MP, Padamsinh Patil, arrested by the CBI in connection with a double murder case, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) today suspended him from its primary membership.

The disciplinary action committee of the party met here today and decided to suspend the Lok Sabha MP from Osamanabad, party general secretary and Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Praful Patel told a press conference.

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Patil is accused of murdering his cousin and Congress leader Pawanraje Nimbalkar and his driver. The incident took place on the Pune-Mumbai expressway three years ago.

“We are not holding him guilty. But we would like to keep a distance as Patil faces the legal process. If he proves his innocence, we will have no problem in taking him back,” Patel said. The party was only following a convention in public life that a person facing investigations in a criminal case should not be associated with the party, he added.

Replying to criticism that the NCP should have acted much earlier, Patel said the Osamanabad MP was arrested only on Sunday and there was a Parliament session on till Tuesday. “We did not want to show a knee-jerk reaction towards a senior leader and MP.”

After Patil’s arrest there was tremendous pressure on Sharad Pawar to take action against Patil from within the party also. Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal had publicly admitted that Patil’s arrest had hurt the party’s image.

However, Patil is not only Pawar’s close relative but also someone who has stood by him in his thick and thin.

Patil was even tipped to be the chief minister in the early 1990s when Pawar joined the P V Narasimha Rao Cabinet as the defence minister. However, Sudhakarrao Naik became the chief minister as a compromise candidate.

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