After the Election Commission (EC) awarded the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) name and symbol to the Ajit Pawar faction, Maharashtra BJP MP Gopal Shetty said that the Sharad Pawar faction can go to the high court or the Supreme Court to challenge the decision.
“The EC has given its verdict based on the evidence and the majority of the legislators. If Sharad Pawar is not satisfied, he can go to the high court or the Supreme Court. He has the right to do so,” Shetty told reporters on Tuesday.
Shetty also said that the NCP symbol row was an internal matter of the party and the BJP had no role in it. “We are not concerned with their dispute. We are focused on our own party and our alliance with Shiv Sena,” he said.
The EC on Tuesday resolved the long-running dispute between the two factions of the NCP ahead of the 2024 General Elections. The poll panel granted the Ajit Pawar camp the party’s name and symbol after multiple hearings. The EC said that the Ajit Pawar faction had the support of 57 out of 81 legislators, while the Sharad Pawar faction had only 28.
The EC also gave a special concession to Sharad Pawar to name his new political formation by Wednesday, in view of the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections for six seats in Maharashtra. The EC said that Sharad Pawar could use Rule 39AA of Conduct of Elections Rules 1961, which allows the authorised agents of political parties to verify as to whom an elector, who is a member of a political party, has cast his vote.
The NCP split in 2023, when Ajit Pawar, the nephew of Sharad Pawar, rebelled against his uncle and joined hands with the BJP to form a short-lived government in Maharashtra. However, he later returned to the NCP fold and became the deputy chief minister in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government led by Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray.
The Sharad Pawar faction had challenged the validity of Ajit Pawar’s claim to the party’s name and symbol, alleging that he had violated the party constitution and manipulated the internal elections. The EC had held 10 hearings with both the factions since July 1, 2023, before announcing its decision on Tuesday.
