A day after the Election Commission of India (ECI) recognised the Ajit Pawar faction as the real Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and allotted the faction the symbol of 'Wall Clock', the Sharad Pawar faction is likely to submit the new name and symbol for their party by Wednesday evening.
The ECI had given the faction concession by allowing it a "one-time option" to claim a name for its political outfit and provide three preferences by Wednesday afternoon in view of the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections.
Meanwhile, the Ajit Pawar faction on Wednesday filed a caveat in the Supreme Court seeking a hearing if the Sharad Pawar group files a plea challenging the ECI order. The caveat has been filed through advocate Abhikalp Pratap Singh to ensure that no ex-parte order is passed against the Ajit Pawar faction if the other group moves to the top court.
The Sharad Pawar faction has said that they would approach the Supreme Court against the decision. On Wednesday, posters of Sharad Pawar, Supriya Sule and Rohit Pawar have been put up outside the NCP office in Mumbai.
While the Maharashtra BJP has called the ECI ruling unbiased and as per the Constitutional provisions, the other members of the INDIA bloc, including Shiva Sena (UBT) have protested against the move. "The ECI's decision is extremely important as it is within the framework of the Constitution. Generally, the ECI decides on which group has the majority of followers and the support of the elected representatives," he told reporters and congratulated Ajit Pawar.
However, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said the ECI stabbed democracy in the back through its decision. Raut told reporters in Delhi that history has not seen injustice of the kind that happened with NCP founder Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray.
He said the Shiv Sena and the NCP were weakened because these were the only two parties that protected the Marathi "asmita" (identity) and raised voices against injustice in Maharashtra. "The Election Commission has stabbed democracy in the back," Raut said. "Now to murder democracy, the matter has been given to (Maharashtra assembly speaker) Rahul Narwekar," he added referring to the ongoing disqualification proceedings against NCP MLAs filed by the two rival factions. Raut asserted that the real Shiv Sena will be where the Thackerays are and the same is the case with the real NCP where Sharad Pawar is.
