Sharad Pawar challenges Election Commission's NCP decision in Supreme Court

Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar moved the Supreme Court today over the Election Commission of India's (ECI) decision to recognise the faction led by his nephew and Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Ajit Pawar as the "real NCP" and also allot the party symbol 'clock' to the group.

The party supremo suffered a severe blow upon learning of the ECI's verdict on February 6. The Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar was the new moniker given to Sharad Pawar's NCP group by the electoral commission on the following day.

The faction's names, Sharad Pawar Congress, Mi Rashtrawadi, and Sharad Swabhimani, along with three emblems, "tea cup," "sunflower," and "rising sun," were presented before the choice was made. Sharad Pawar said the Election Commission had "snatched" the party from its founders and given it to others while speaking to media in Pune on Sunday.

In a press conference held in Pune on Sunday, Sharad Pawar expressed his discontent with the ECI's decision, accusing the commission of "snatching" the party from its founders and handing it over to others. Pawar, who founded the NCP in 1999 after parting ways with the Congress, criticized the unprecedented move by the Election Commission.

"The party was taken from its founders and builders by the EC, and it was given to others; this has never happened in the history of the country," said Pawar, who left the Congress party to create the NCP in 1999.