On Tuesday, February 6, the Election Commission (EC) has chosen to support Ajit Pawar’s group in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), giving them control over the party’s name and symbol.
This important decision was announced Yesterday, putting an end to months of speculation about the internal conflict between Ajit Pawar and his uncle, Sharad Pawar, who founded the party.
The electoral body has officially allocated the ‘clock’ symbol of the party to the faction led by Ajit Pawar, after over 10 hearings conducted over a period of 6 months. The order mentioned that the NCP had a total of 81 members, including MPs, MLAs, and MLCs. Out of these, 57 backed Ajit Pawar, while 28 supported Sharad Pawar.
However, five MLAs and one Lok Sabha MP had given support to both sides. The Election Commission has extended an opportunity to the faction under Sharad Pawar’s leadership to stake a claim for a new appellation for their political entity.
Having lost the NCP symbol ‘Wall Clock’ to his nephew’s faction, the Sharad Pawar-led group is confronted with a pivotal choice. This faction has been directed to submit three preferred names by 3 pm on February 7.
The statement Election Commission
“The decision followed the laid-out tests of maintainability of such a petition, which included tests of aims and objectives of party constitution, test of party constitution and tests of majority both organisational and legislative.
The test of majority in the legislative wing found favour in this circumstance of the case, where both groups have found to be working outside the party constitution and the organizational elections.” the commission said.
Ajit Pawar said on his official social media account: “We humbly accept the decision given by the Election Commission after listening to the side presented by our lawyers.”
Sunil Tatkare, serving as the State President (Maharashtra) for the Ajit Pawar faction, expressed acceptance of the Election Commission’s decision, stating, “We are happy that the decision has come in our favour, our decision has been validated legally today by the EC.”
On the other hand Jitendra Awhad, a prominent leader from the Sharad Pawar camp, characterized the Election Commission’s decision as ‘surprising.’ Expressed his displeasure and He said, “This was a plan by bending institutions to their will and get them to their bidding.
We knew this was coming, in another few days we will see the Maharashtra Assembly speaker also give a decision in Ajit Pawar’s favour”. He also added, “We don’t know a symbol, our symbol itself is Sharad Pawar”.
NCP MP Supriya Sule and the daughter of Sharad Pawar said, “This is the first time in the history of the country that a man who created the party and built it has seen the party removed; I’m not surprised by this decision.
This is a conspiracy against the Marathi people.” Sule mentioned that it’s similar to what happened with the Shiv Sena earlier.
In the aftermath of the Election Commission’s decision, the NCP faction under the leadership of Sharad Pawar is gearing up to take the matter to the Supreme Court. NCP MLA Jayant Patil emphasized, “We will approach the Supreme Court; it is our last hope.”
Following the acquisition of the party name and symbol, there are now reports suggesting that Ajit Pawar may also given ownership over the NCP headquarters in Mumbai.
The report additionally mentioned that the party office was provided by the government and did not originate from the party’s welfare funds.
The Sharad Pawar faction has proposed three potential names for their party to the Election Commission. These suggestions include “Nationalist Congress Party Sharad Pawar,” “Nationalist Congress Party Sharad Chandra Pawar,” and “Nationalist Congress Party Sharadrao Pawar.” Additionally, the Sharad Pawar faction has requested for the ‘Banyan’ tree to be designated as the symbol for their party.
The ongoing political drama in Maharashtra is going through significant changes, making observers eagerly anticipate the next chapter in this complex political story.
Source link:https://www.indiatoday.in/
