Will Ajit Pawar now stake claim on NCP headquarters after EC’s ’real NCP’ verdict? 10 key points

Maharashtra Political crisis: In a major setback for party founder Sharad Pawar, The Electon Commission (EC) on Tuesday declared Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar-led faction as the “real" Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). The EC has provided the Sharad Pawar faction with an option to claim a name to its new political formation and provide three preferences to the Commission. The concession is to be utilised by 3 pm today i.e. on February 7, 2024.

Also Read: Sharad Pawar vs Ajit Pawar: SC orders Maharashtra speaker to decide on NCP MLAs' disqualification by 15 February

Here are 10 points you need to know:

1. After name and symbol, reports have also claimed that Ajit Pawar is also likely to stake claim on NCP headquarters in Mumbai. Ajit Pawar is expected to formally communicate their demands in order to obtain the party office through legal means, sources told India Today. The report further added that the party office was given by the government and is not from the party’s welfare funds.

2. After the EC's decision, the NCP faction led by Sharad Pawar is now set to set to approach the Supreme Court. “Will approach Supreme Court, it is our last hope," added NCP MLA Jayant Patil.

Also Read: Maharashtra: Ajit Pawar takes veiled jibe at Sharad Pawar’s age, urges supporters to vote for his Lok Sabha candidate

3. Party spokesperson Clyde Crasto however insisted that the news did not come as a surprise. “Ajit Pawar faction leaders had been continuously saying that they would get the name and the symbol, with date... In 1999, NCP was founded by Sharad Pawar... Everybody knows that the NCP belongs to Sharad Pawar... A few months they claimed the party and the EC gave it to them... Sharad Pawar is the chief of the NCP which is there in 28 states... 25 out of them backed Sharad Pawar. Now the Supreme Court has to tell what the truth behind all of this is..." he added

Also Read: 'Adrishya shakti doing all this’: Supriya Sule on Shard Pawar faction losing NCP name, symbol

4. On 7 February, Former Haryana CM and Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda also arrived at the residence of Sharad Pawar.

5. Reacting to the EC's verdict, Ajit Pawar said, “We humbly accept the order of the Election Commission of India. The ECI has accepted the submissions made by our counsels and we thank the ECI."

6. Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis said that the decision of the poll panel showed the power of democracy. "This was an expected decision. We were confident that Ajit Pawar will get it. He has the majority and the organisation is also with him, the majority on both sides seems to be with him, I congratulate Ajit Pawar... In 2019, a mandate was broken, and the public mandate was cheated, but this decision has shown the power of democracy," Fadnavis told reporters.

7. Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said, "...You may have MLAs or MPs. If these MLAs and MPs lose the elections tomorrow, what will happen to the party? The entire decision is wrong and biased... Sharad Pawar is still the founder of the party, he used to sit before the Election Commission and the EC knows that he is the founder, yet the party is given to Ajit Pawar, this is Modi's guarantee."

8. The decision was made after more than 10 hearings spread over more than six months. The poll panel said that the decision followed laid-out tests of the maintainability of the petition, including tests of the aims and objectives of the party constitution, a test of the party constitution, and tests of organizational and legislative majority.

9. Ajit Pawar had broken ranks and joined the BJP-Shiv Sena coalition in the Maharashtra government. Ajit Pawar later took oath as the state's deputy chief minister and eight other NCP MLAs as ministers.

10. Meanwhile, the SC has granted the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar time till 15 February to decide on the disqualification of NCP MLAs affiliated to Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's group.

(With agency inputs)