No evidence to prove split: Sharad Pawar’s NCP tells EC
The party has also sought documents from the poll body based on which the Ajit-led faction made the claim. Senior NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad reiterated that the party was still united
Mumbai The Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party has told the Election Commission (EC) that Ajit Pawar has no evidence to prove that the party has been divided into two factions. It made this claim while requesting the ECI to reject the petition filed by the Ajit Pawar group to stake claim on the party name and symbol.
The party has also sought documents from the poll body based on which the Ajit-led faction made the claim. Senior NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad reiterated that the party was still united. “We have told the election commission that there is no split and NCP remains united. We are the real party and no one can stake a claim on it… The election commission should not have taken cognizance of their letter because no such split has ever happened and the party stands united.”
NCP claimed a contradiction on the part of the Ajit-led group. “On July 5, a letter was sent by them claiming that Ajit Pawar was declared as national president in a meeting held on June 30. Before this, on July 2, in a presser they have said that Sharad Pawar is the national president of NCP and their leader. All this will have to be considered by the ECI,” the party said in its reply to the poll body.
It further said that the NCP is recognized by the election commission and a letter declaring Sharad Pawar as the national president of the party was submitted to the poll body by none other than Praful Patel himself. “The demand for NCP’s election symbol is ‘premature’ and ‘malafide’ and should be rejected,” it argued.
“Ajit Pawar has not been able to demonstrate even prima facie that there exists a dispute in NCP. Before July 1, neither did Ajit Pawar raise any grievance against Sharad Pawar or NCP nor did he request for a meeting with Sharad Pawar or any other leader of NCP. As on the date of filing the petition, there is no evidence of the presence of two factions of NCP,” it adds.
On these grounds, the NCP has sought documents from the election commission that have been submitted by the rebel NCP group to substantiate their claim. “We have not received any document based on which they are making the claims. When did the meeting take place, how was it called, where was it held, we need to study all the evidence,” Awhad said.
When asked about Sharad Pawar’s claims to EC, Sanjay Tatkare, spokesperson of the Ajit-led NCP group said, “The EC issued notices to both the factions and has sought their replies. Accordingly, we are in the process of filing a reply to the poll body. We won’t react to what people are saying, instead we will submit our say to the commission, which is the constitutional body. Let the election commission decide.”
On July 2, Ajit Pawar, by claiming to have the support of 40 party MLAs, joined the Shinde-Fadnavis state government. The same day, he declared moving the election commission for use of the name and symbol of NCP. The documents were officially received by the EC on July 5. Along with the petition, the EC also received affidavits from 40 MPs, MLAs and MLCs and a resolution passed by rebel faction members dated June 30 that they had elected Ajit Pawar as the NCP president.
On July 3, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP moved a disqualification motion against nine MLAs, including Ajit Pawar, who were inducted as ministers into the coalition government. A copy of this was sent to the EC. On July 6, the Pawar faction decided to expel all the nine MLAs, along with working president Praful Patel and general secretary Sunil Tatkare. The decision was taken in the working committee of the party held in Delhi.
