Election Commission on NCP: The Election Commission on Wednesday gave factions of the Nationalist Congress Party three more weeks to respond to the notices regarding the party’s name and official symbol. The Sharad Pawar group had sought four weeks’ time in a letter to the Election Commission. Now both the groups will have to reply to the notice on 8 September. On July 27, the poll panel had issued notices to both Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar factions and sought their reply by August 17, ie tomorrow.
with Ajit Pawar Disqualification motion moved against nine NCP MLAs
The poll panel had received affidavits of 40 MPs, MLAs and MLCs as well as a proposal from rebel faction members that they have chosen Ajit Pawar as the NCP chief. The faction led by Sharad Pawar had decided not to approach the Election Commission until the Election Commission took cognizance of the claims of the rebel group. On 3 July, the Pawar faction moved a disqualification motion against nine NCP MLAs, including Ajit Pawar, who was sworn in as deputy chief minister in the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis coalition government.
All nine MLAs were expelled
Three days later, the Sharad Pawar faction expelled all nine MLAs, including working president Praful Patel and general secretary Sunil Tatkare. This decision was taken in the working committee of the party held in Delhi. In a separate development, Pawar held a closed-door meeting with his nephew Ajit Pawar in Pune, triggering speculation about their future course of action. This meeting, which lasted for three hours, took place at the house of an industrialist.
What is the significance of Sharad and Ajit Pawar’s meeting?
However, when asked about the meeting, Sharad Pawar said that the commotion was not a secret. The NCP chief also announced that he would never forge an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party. Sharad Pawar said that as the national president of NCP, I am making it clear that my party (NCP) will not go with the BJP. He said, ‘Any association with the Bharatiya Janata Party does not fit into the political policy of the NCP.’