NCP factions In Limbo As EC Grants More Time To Resolve Name, Symbol Dispute

The Election Commission has extended the deadline by three weeks for the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) factions to respond to the notice concerning the party's name and official symbol. The Sharad Pawar faction had initially requested a four-week extension in a letter to the electoral body. Both factions are now required to provide their responses by September 8.

Earlier, on July 27, the Election Commission had issued notices to both the Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar factions, setting August 17 as the original deadline for their replies, which is tomorrow. Alongside this, the poll panel had received affidavits from 40 MPs, MLAs, and MLCs, along with a resolution from the rebel faction members asserting their selection of Ajit Pawar as the NCP chief.

The faction led by Sharad Pawar had refrained from engaging with the Election Commission until it acknowledged the claims made by the rebel group. On July 3, the Pawar faction had initiated a disqualification motion against nine NCP MLAs, including Ajit Pawar, who had taken oath as the deputy chief minister in the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis coalition government.

Subsequently, the Pawar faction expelled all nine MLAs, in addition to working president Praful Patel and general secretary Sunil Tatkare. This decision was taken during the party's working committee meeting held in Delhi.

In a separate development, Sharad Pawar held a closed-door meeting with his nephew Ajit Pawar in Pune, which led to speculation about their future actions. This three-hour-long meeting took place at the residence of an industrialist.

Addressing the meeting, Pawar clarified that it was not a secretive gathering. He stated, "What is wrong with meeting my nephew? If a senior person in a family desires to meet another family member, there should not be any issue with that." He also firmly asserted that the NCP would never form an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

"As the national president of the NCP, I am making it clear that my party (NCP) will not go with the BJP. Any association with the Bharatiya Janata Party does not fit in NCP's political policy," he said.