Sharad Pawar seeks urgent hearing of plea against ECI order recognising Ajit Pawar-led faction as ‘real’ NCP

New Delhi [India], February 16 (ANI): Veteran leader Sharad Pawar of the NCP sought an urgent hearing before the Supreme Court of the plea against the order of the Election Commission of India (ECI) officially recognising the Ajit Pawar faction as the ‘real’ Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi mentioned the matter for urgent listing, saying that because of the poll panel order, Sharad Pawar will likely face the whip of Ajit Pawar in the Maharashtra Assembly Session, which is going to start on February 20.

Singhvi said the Pawar group has not been given any symbols at all.

“Matter of extreme urgency. Because of an Election Commission order, Sharad Pawar will be subject to the whip of Ajit Pawar. Sessions in Maharashtra start next week. We have not been given any symbol at all,” a senior lawyer told the apex court seeking listing of the case on February 19.

A bench of the Chief Justice of India and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said it would look into the urgent listing of the case.

“Let me see. We will list it,” said the bench.

Sharad Pawar had earlier moved the Supreme Court to challenge the decision of the ECI to officially recognise the Ajit Pawar faction as the’real’ NCP and the use of party symbols.

On February 6, the poll panel, while applying the test of majority in the legislative wing, ruled that Ajit Pawar’s faction was the ‘real’ NCP and permitted the faction to use the ‘clock’ symbol for the party.

In its order, the Election Commission noted that the total number of NCP MLAs in the Maharashtra State Assembly stood at 81, and out of this, Ajit Pawar submitted affidavits of 57 MLAs in his support, while Sharad Pawar had only 28 affidavits.

Hence, the poll panel concluded that the Ajit Pawar faction enjoyed the majority support of the legislators and could lay claim to being the NCP.

“The faction led by petitioner Ajit Anantrao Pawar is the Nationalist Congress Party and is entitled to use its name and reserved symbol ‘clock’ for the purposes of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment), Order 1968,” the Commission had noted.

Earlier, the Ajit Pawar faction had also filed a caveat application in the Supreme Court in anticipation of the Sharad Pawar faction’s move to appeal an Election Commission order.

A caveat application is filed by a litigant to ensure that no adverse order is passed against him or her without being heard.

On Thursday, Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar ruled that deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s party was the real NCP and turned down demands to disqualify either faction’s lawmakers.

The Supreme Court had earlier extended the time till February 15 for the Speaker to pass the final order on the plea of the Sharad Pawar faction seeking disqualification against rebel MLAs led by Ajit Pawar.

In July 2023, a Sharad Pawar-led group filed disqualification petitions against eight MLAs for anti-party activities after Ajit Pawar split the party and joined the coalition government in Maharashtra as deputy Chief Minister.

Jayant Patil, a Sharad Pawar loyalist, later moved the apex court, seeking direction from the Speaker for a time-bound disposal of the disqualification petitions, in view of a similar direction passed by the top court in the case involving the Shiv Sena party dispute between Uddhav Thackeray and the Eknath Shinde group.

The apex court had then asked the Speaker to fast-track the adjudication of the disqualification petitions.