Mumbai: Sharad Pawar, a senior leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), has requested an urgent hearing before the Supreme Court challenging the Election Commission of India's (ECI) decision to officially recognize the Ajit Pawar faction as the 'real' NCP. Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi sought urgent listing of the matter, highlighting the potential repercussions for Sharad Pawar during the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly Session starting on February 20.
Singhvi emphasized that the Pawar group has not been allocated any symbols by the poll panel, raising concerns over the party's representation in the assembly. Responding to the plea, a bench comprising the Chief Justice of India and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra assured to consider the urgent listing of the case. Earlier, Sharad Pawar had approached the Supreme Court challenging the ECI's decision to recognize the Ajit Pawar faction as the 'real' NCP and permit them to use party symbols.
On February 6, the ECI ruled in favor of the Ajit Pawar faction, citing majority support in the Maharashtra State Assembly based on submitted affidavits. According to the Election Commission's order, the Ajit Pawar faction secured affidavits from 57 MLAs, while Sharad Pawar's faction had only 28, leading to the former being recognized as the legitimate NCP.
The Ajit Pawar faction had also filed a caveat application in the Supreme Court anticipating an appeal from the Sharad Pawar faction against the ECI's order. Meanwhile, Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar upheld Ajit Pawar's party as the genuine NCP and rejected calls for disqualification of lawmakers from either faction. Earlier directives from the Supreme Court had extended the deadline for the Speaker to adjudicate on disqualification petitions filed by the Sharad Pawar faction against rebel MLAs aligned with Ajit Pawar.
In response to the internal party dispute, Jayant Patil, a loyalist of Sharad Pawar, sought a time-bound resolution from the Speaker, drawing parallels with a similar case involving the Shiv Sena party. The apex court had urged the Speaker to expedite the adjudication process of the disqualification petitions, emphasizing the need for swift resolution .
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