Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) founder Sharad Pawar has appealed the Supreme Court against the Election Commission (EC) decision in February to recognise the faction led by his nephew Ajit Pawar as the ‘real’ party.
The EC had allotted NCP symbol ‘wall clock’ to the Ajit Pawar group, seemingly at the time to end months of factional fight within the party.
Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Ajit Pawar has already filed a caveat through advocate Abhikalp Pratap Singh in the Supreme Court, urging to be heard before any order is passed in the special leave petition filed by the elder Pawar.
The Commission said that it had come to a conclusion in favour of Mr. Ajit Pawar, who had joined the ruling Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis coalition government in the State, after testing the aims and objectives of the party’s constitution, the test of the party’s constitution, and the test of majority, both legislative and organisational.
“The faction led by petitioner Ajit Anantrao Pawar is the Nationalist Congress Party and is entitled to use its name and reserved symbol ‘Clock’ for the purposes of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment), Order 1968,” the Commission had noted.
The appeal has been filed by Mr. Sharad Pawar just days ahead of the expiry of the deadline given by the Supreme Court to Maharashtra Speaker Rahul Narwekar to decide the disqualification petitions against the breakaway faction headed by Mr. Ajit Pawar. The Supreme Court had extended the deadline from January 31, 2024 to February 15, 2024.
