NCP’s Ajit Pawar faction distributes sweets in Pune after ECI recognition, Sharad Pawar loyalists attack BJP over split

“The Election Commission has made incorrect decisions. We condemn the Election Commission for working under pressure from the Union government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The BJP has been deliberately creating a split or destroying political parties that do not support them,” said Prashant Jagtap, the Pune city unit chief of the NCP’s Sharad Pawar faction, which has been asked to find a new name and symbol by the ECI.

He said, “For us, the party and its symbol is Sharad Pawar. There cannot be anything bigger than him. We stood by him and will do so in future as well.”

Jagtap said the new name and symbol would be put up at the party office after removing the old name and symbol. “We will work hard to display our strength in the coming elections and teach the BJP a lesson for causing a split in the NCP,” he said as both factions are set to contest against each other in the upcoming Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra.

Meanwhile, the Pune city chief of the Ajit Pawar faction, Deepak Mankar, said, “We welcome the decision of the Election Commission that is in line with the country’s democracy. The NCP and its symbol is with party president Ajit Pawar. He deserves it considering the work he did in his social life.”

“The NCP under him will grow tremendously and follow a path of development to serve the public,” he said, adding that the upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections would prove the strength of the NCP under Ajit Pawar, who joined the Eknath Shinde-led BJP-Shiv Sena government as a deputy chief minister last year after a rebellion against Sharad Pawar.

The ECI, in its order, noted that the total number of MPs, MLAs and MLCs of the NCP was 81, of which 57 supported Ajit Pawar while 28 supported Sharad Pawar. It said that even if six legislators supporting both factions were excluded, Ajit Pawar’s faction had the majority support.

Ajit Pawar has already taken up a challenge to defeat the sitting NCP MP Amol Kolhe from the Shirur Lok Sabha constituency. He has also appealed to the people in Baramati to get his candidate elected from the seat that has been represented by Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule for the last three terms.