The Supreme Court on Monday maintained the Election Commission’s directive from February 7, which granted recognition to the group led by Sharad Pawar under the name ‘Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar’, until further notice.
A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and K V Viswanathan also sought a response from the faction led by Ajit Pawar on a plea filed by Sharad Pawar against the Election Commission’s decision on February 7, acknowledging the group led by the Maharashtra deputy chief minister as the real Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
The bench granted Sharad Pawar the freedom to approach the poll panel for the allocation of the party symbol and directed the commission to assign it within one week of the application.
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, representing Sharad Pawar, highlighted that the Election Commission’s order on February 7 was an interim measure made for the Rajya Sabha elections until February 27.
Singhvi stated, “The Maharashtra assembly session is slated to commence on February 26, leaving our group without any name or symbol.”
Sharad Pawar urgently sought a hearing of his plea in the apex court due to the dual setbacks experienced by his led group and the consequent apprehension of potential violations of whip by his MLAs.
This urgency stemmed from the ruling by Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on February 15, affirming that the NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar was the legitimate NCP, and that the anti-defection provisions in the Constitution could not be utilized to suppress internal dissent.
Prior to this, on February 7, the Election Commission declared the Ajit Pawar faction as the genuine NCP and also assigned the party’s ‘clock’ symbol to the group.
The one-day special session of the Maharashtra assembly on the Maratha quota is set to commence on February 20.
