Sharad Pawar gets a new name for his party - 'Nationalist Congress Party - Sharadchandra Pawar'
Sharad Pawar on Wednesday evening submitted a list of three names - to identify his faction of the Nationalist Congress Party - to the Election Commission, as directed after he lost control of the party he has led since it was founded in 1999.
FollowThe Sharad Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Wednesday got a new name i.e. "Nationalist Congress Party - Sharadchandra Pawar", a day after the poll body declared the Ajit Pawar camp to be the real NCP.
The Sharad Pawar faction had suggested three new names: NCP Sharad Pawar, NCP Sharadchandra Pawar, and NCP Sharadrao Pawar. The proposed emblems were the rising sun (a variation of which is allotted to Tamil Nadu's ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) and the banyan tree. The Sharad Pawar faction also held a protest outside its headquarters today after losing its "clock" insignia.
Following more than ten hearings over the course of six months, the election panel ruled in favour of Ajit Pawar. The ECI said that the ‘test of the legislative majority’ helped the Ajit Pawar faction clinch the NCP symbol amid the disputed internal organisational elections.
On Tuesday the Election Commission awarded the party name and symbol to Ajit Pawar, arguing his group is the 'real' Nationalist Congress Party because it has more MLAs in the state Assembly.
While the Ajit Pawar faction celebrated the verdict, saying that "priority is given to the majority", Sharad Pawar's camp called it a "murder of democracy" and announced that they would approach the Supreme Court.
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.
The poll body's decision - which played out exactly as the Sena vs Sena fight, in which the faction led by Eknath Shinde (made Chief Minister after breaking the Shiv Sena and allying with the BJP) was recognised as the 'real Sena' - has been fiercely criticised by lawmakers loyal to Sharad Pawar.
