The Supreme Court is set to hear Sharad Pawar’s plea challenging an Election Commission order that recognises the Ajit Pawar-led faction as the real Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta, and KV Viswanathan is expected to consider the petition filed by the veteran leader.
The urgent hearing of the plea comes after the Election Commission of India and Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar recognised the Ajit Pawar-led faction as the legitimate Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
The veteran leader criticised the decisions of the election body and Narwekar as “unfair” and announced his faction’s intention to appeal to the Supreme Court to regain the party name and symbol.
On February 6, the ECI officially acknowledged the Ajit Pawar-led faction of the Nationalist Congress Party, granting them the party’s “clock” symbol. The Election Commission also approved a new name for the Sharad-led party as the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar.
The EC justified its decision by citing the “test of legislative majority,” favoring the Ajit Pawar faction that had separated from the Sharad Pawar group in June of the previous year.
Additionally, the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker also dismissed disqualification petitions from both the Ajit and Sharad Pawar-led factions, declaring Ajit’s group as the real NCP.
Sharad Pawar, along with former Lok Sabha Speaker Purno Sangma and Tariq Anwar, founded the Nationalist Congress Party in 1999 after their expulsion from the Congress
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