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New Delhi, India
The founder of India’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Sharad Pawar on Saturday (Feb 17) vehemently opposed a decision by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to give the party’s name to his nephew Ajit Pawar.
Pawar said it has never happened in the past that the founder himself was removed from the party. Pawar also said the decision of the ECI was against the law and he had approached the Supreme Court of India (SCI) to get the ECI order nullified.
"It has never happened before that those who formed a political party were removed from the party. Not only this, the party symbol was also taken away. This decision was not in accordance with the law. We have approached the Supreme Court in this matter. We will need to increase our public outreach," news agency ANI quoted Sharad Pawar as saying.
Sharad Pawar attacks nephew Ajit
Earlier on Friday (Feb 16), Sharad Pawar criticised nephew Ajit for going on a “different path”. He said he was not worried about losing the NCP name and symbol to him but didn’t approve of his ‘deviation’ from the path.
"But some of our colleagues deviated from this path. Some took away the party, some took away the symbol. I never worry about all this. Some people chose to go on a different path by forsaking ideology but people did not appreciate this move," he asserted while addressing a public meeting in Satara.
Sharad Pawar added that power comes and goes but ideology, policies and the thought to take the country forward are permanent.
Pawar approaches Supreme Court
Pawar has also approached the SC for an urgent hearing against the ECI order of allotting the NCP name and symbol to Ajit Pawar faction.
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The decision to identify the Ajit faction as the real NCP was also upheld by Maharashtra assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar.
Pawar-led NCP split into two factions in July 2023 when Ajit Pawar and eight state legislators joined the alliance backed by the national ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
(With inputs from agencies)