The Supreme Court issued a directive on February 19, upholding the Election Commission’s order of February 7, which granted the name ‘Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar’ for the faction led by Sharad Pawar. A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and K. V. Viswanathan directed that the Election Commission’s order shall remain in effect until further notice.
In response to a plea filed by Sharad Pawar against the February 7 order, the bench sought a response from the faction led by Ajit Pawar, the Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister. Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, representing Sharad Pawar, argued that the Election Commission’s decision was an interim arrangement made specifically for the Rajya Sabha elections until February 27.
Singhvi emphasized the urgency of the matter, stating that the Maharashtra assembly session is slated to commence on February 26, leaving their group without a name or symbol. The bench granted Sharad Pawar the liberty to approach the poll panel for allocation of the party symbol, directing the Election Commission to complete the allocation within one week of the application.
The urgency of the situation stemmed from the February 15 order of Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar, who ruled in favor of the Ajit Pawar-led faction as the authentic NCP. Narwekar also emphasized that the anti-defection provisions in the Constitution should not impede internal dissent within political parties.
Previously, on February 7, the Election Commission had declared the Ajit Pawar faction as the legitimate NCP and allocated the party’s ‘clock’ symbol to this group. With the special one-day Maharashtra assembly session on the Maratha quota scheduled to commence on February 20, the timing of the Supreme Court’s directive holds significant implications for the ongoing political developments within the NCP in Maharashtra.
