NEW DELHI: In a major setback to Sharad Pawar, the Election Commission of India on Tuesday announced Ajit Pawar- led faction is the real owner of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). The NCP was founded in 1999 by Sharad Pawar.
Ruling in favour of Ajit Pawar after 10 hearings spread over six months, the ECI said with a backing of 57 out of 81 legislators, Ajit Pawar’s faction can use the NCP name and its poll symbol “Clock”. However, in view of the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections, the ECI has given a “one time option” to Sharad Pawar faction to pick a new name for its political outfit and provide three preferences by February 7 afternoon.
Reacting to ECI’s announcement, Ajit Pawar said he accepts this decision with humility, but his cousin and daughter of Sharad Pawar, Surpiya Sule said they will fight back as the Supreme Court ruling in deciding such cases was not followed. She said her father will rebuild the party.
“What was done with Shiv Sena earlier has happened to us now. The names in the order (of ECI) have changed but the content remains the same. Firstly, we are clearly doing two things in the next 48 hours. Second, the Election Commission has given us an option to give them three names and three symbols by tomorrow evening, so we will of course do that,” Sule said.
Total number of NCP legislators, including MPs, MLCs and MLAs is 81 out of which Ajit Pawar filed 57 affidavits supporting him while the man who found the party, Sharad Pawar had 28 by his side. Ajit Pawar had walked away with a majority of NCP MLAs in July last year and supported the BJP-Shiv Sena government led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in Maharashtra.
In its order, the ECI said the decision followed the laid-out tests of maintainability of such a petition which included tests of aims and objectives of the 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. “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 organisational elections,” the ECI order said.
“The Commission holds that the faction led by the petitioner Ajit Anantrao Pawar, is the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and is entitled to use its name and reserved symbol ‘clock’ for the purposes of Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968,” the ECI order said.
Responding to the order, Sharad Pawar faction leader Jitendra Awhad said, “This was going to happen. We already knew this... Today he (Ajit Pawar) has choked Sharad Pawar politically... Only Ajit Pawar is behind this... The only one who should be embarrassed in this is the Election Commission... Sharad Pawar is a phoenix. He will rise again from the ashes. We still have the power because we have Sharad Pawar... We will go to the Supreme Court.”
“First the EC said that the Shiv Sena belongs to Eknath Shinde... Now they have said that the NCP belongs to Ajit Pawar... The whole nation knows that NCP was founded by Sharad Pawar in 1999... We already knew this would happen... Sharad Pawar will go to the Supreme Court... Democracy is finished in this country... We have faith in the Supreme Court,” said Shiv Sena-UBT spokesperson Anand Dubey.
