Leaders from both NCP factions say there is no split or dispute in party

Senior leaders from both Sharad Pawar- and Ajit Pawar-led factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have said that there is no split in the party. The Election Commission has summoned the opposing factions of the NCP (Nationalist Congress Party) for a personal hearing on October 6. This action comes in response to a petition filed by the Ajit group, asserting that Ajit Pawar has been elected as the party's national president.

It is unfair on the part of the Election Commission of India to treat our case as a dispute within a political party when we have consistently maintained that there is no split, said Jayant Patil, the Maharashtra unit chief of the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, on Tuesday. Sharad Pawar in his letter to the ECI stressed the fact that he never faced any opposition within the party. There is no dispute. There has been no opposition to my (Sharad Pawar’s) policies from the party on any public platform, Patil told reporters.

Asked about Patil’s comments, Chhagan Bhujbal, Maharashtra cabinet minister and senior leader from the Ajit Pawar group, said, It is good as there is no dispute in the party. Some changes have taken place, such as change of national president.Ajit Pawar is now the party’s president and we have already communicated this to the ECI. Ajit Pawar rebelled against his uncle and NCP founder Sharad Pawar’s leadership in July this year and joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government in Maharashtra as deputy chief minister.