Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar, speaking to reporters on Monday, said that he will accept the final decision of the Election Commission of India (ECI) over party name and symbol after hearing takes place, news agency ANI reported. Sharad Pawar-led faction of the NCP will also hold a press conference today addressing the issue. Both factions are preparing for the hearing to be held on October 6 before the ECI over the issue of Ajit-Pawar led group staking claim on the party name and symbol. Ajit claimed he removed Pawar as NCP president on June 30, two days before being sworn in as Deputy CM. “A resolution dated June 30, 2023, signed by an overwhelming majority of members of the NCP, both from the legislative and organisational wings, was passed, thereby electing Ajit Anantrao Pawar as the President of the NCP. Shri Praful Patel was and continues to be one of the working presidents of the NCP. The NCP also decided to appoint Ajit Pawar as the leader of the NCP Legislative Party in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and the said decision was also ratified by the resolution passed by an overwhelming majority of NCP MLAs,” the Ajit Pawar group claimed after the rebellion.
Patel, in his capacity as national working president of the party, removed NCP state president Jayant Patil from the post and appointed Sunil Tatkare as the new state president. Since July 2, the Sharad Pawar group has maintained there is no split in the party.While the Ajit Pawar group has staked claim over the party name and symbol, the rival group, in its reply to the EC, asked it not to entertain the Ajit group’s petition and staked claim to the party name and symbol. It said if the petition was allowed, in the future, any member of any party could file a “frivolous” petition.With the EC hearing date approaching, the Ajit group last week served disqualification notices to nine MLAs in the Pawar camp as well as MLCs Eknath Khadse, Shashikant Shinde, and Arun Lad. Three MLAs have not been served notice by either group. They are — Ashok Pawar, Sumantai Patil, and Nawab Malik. Both sides have undertaken statewide tour programmes, with Pawar announcing he is rebuilding his party. At a press conference in Aurangabad last month, when asked how many MLAs were with him, he smilingly replied, “Zero.” He has already held four public rallies in different parts of the state and further programmes will be announced soon.