Senior politician Sharad Pawar’s party has a new name: the Nationalist Congress Party Sharadchandra Pawar, the Election Commission announced Wednesday, a day after ruling that the side led by his nephew, Ajit Pawar, is the’real’ NCP and would be given its name and emblem (a clock).
The Election Commission stated that “the name of your group/faction as a onetime option for the purposes of the forthcoming election to six seats in the Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra” has been accepted.
The electoral board has yet to choose a symbol for the NCP Sharadchandra Pawar; sources told NDTV that the choice is between the rising sun (a variation is used by Tamil Nadu’s ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam), a pair of glasses (a variation is with the Indian National Lok Dal), and a banyan tree.
The Election Commission declared on Tuesday that the NCP group led by Ajit Pawar, who broke away from his uncle’s side in July to join the BJP and be sworn in as Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister, could keep the party name and emblem since he had more MLAs in the state Assembly.
The NCP has 53 MLAs, but just 12 have sided with Sharad Pawar.
Sharad Pawar was given till 4 p.m. today to come up with an alternate name.
According to sources, Sharad Pawar, 84, met with attorneys and party leaders multiple times to decide on a name. The party, sources said, is keen on keeping either ‘Nationalist’ or Mr Pawar’s name front-and-centre, to counter a potential bleeding of votes in centre and state elections.
A challenge, party leaders have admitted, is spreading awareness about any new name so close to an election since voters, particularly in rural areas, will identify the clock image with Sharad Pawar.
Other names proposed included Sharad Pawar Congress and Sharad Pawar Swabhimani Paksh.
The election body’s decision, which played out precisely like a Sena vs Sena conflict, in which the side led by Eknath Shinde (appointed Chief Minister after splitting the Shiv Sena and allying with the BJP) was accepted as the’real Sena’, has been harshly attacked by Sharad Pawar supporters.
“The whole world knows who founded the NCP… So what the Election Commission did despite that is the murder of democracy by the election commission,” Anil Desmukh, a former Minister, said.
Sharad Pawar’s camp will move the Supreme Court against the Election Commission’s decision, senior leader Jayant Patil has said. “It is our innocent expectation the court will stay the decision…”
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Source: NDTV
