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Weighing in on the Election Commission's decision to allocate the NCP name and party symbol to the ruling faction in the NDA government led by Ajit Pawar, former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, from the Sharad Pawar-led rival faction called it 'unfortunate' and a 'murder of democracy'.
Dealing a huge setback to the Sharad Pawar-led faction, the Election Commission on Tuesday settled the dispute over party name and symbol in favour of the faction led by the petitioner, Ajit Pawar. "Today the Election Commission has given Sharad Pawar's party's name and symbol to Ajit Pawar. A similar decision was taken in the matter involving the two Shiv Sena factions. The NCP was founded by Sharad Pawar. He had been the president of the party for years. The Election Commission's decision was taken under pressure. This is a murder of democracy," Deshmukh said in a personalized video after the EC ruling. Congress's state president Nana Patole hit out at the BJP-led Centre, saying the decision of the Election Commission, awarding the NCP name and symbol to the Ajit Pawar faction, was scripted by them and the poll panel merely conveyed it. "A few months ago, BJP national president JP Nadda had said that no regional party would exist in the country. Since then, the central intelligence agency and the Election Commission have started the process of eliminating regional parties at the behest of the Modi government. What happened with the Shiv Sena and now with the Nationalist Congress Party is nothing but the murder of democracy," Patole told ANI on Tuesday. The Congress is a partner in the Opposition alliance--Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). Meanwhile, Ajit Pawar's supporters were seen erupting in unbridled celebrations as EC ruled in favour of their faction. The decision by the poll panel could have a significant impact on the morale of the Opposition bloc--INDIA--ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The Commission has provided the Sharad Pawar faction with a one-time option to decide on a name for its faction and send three shortlisted names to the panel. The concession has to be availed by 3 pm on February 7. The decision was taken after more than 10 hearings spread over more than six months. The poll panel said the decision followed the laid-out tests of maintainability of the petition, which included tests of aims and objectives of the party constitution, a test of the party's constitution and majority--both organisational and legislative. The hearings, which commenced on July 1 last year between factions led by Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar saw strong legal teams from both sides including Mukul Rohatgi, Neeraj Kishan Kaul and Maninder Singh for the petitioner and Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Devdatt Kamat from the respondent. The test of majority in the legislative wing found favour in this circumstance of the case, where both groups were found to be working outside the party constitution and the organisational elections, the poll panel said. The occupants of the post were primarily assessed to be appointed by self-nominated members of the electoral college and against the internal party democracy. Serious inconsistencies in terms of timelines in the claim of the Sharad Pawar group, in support of their claim of having the organizational majority, resulted in unreliability of their claim, it said. Using its powers under Para 18 of the Symbols Order, the poll panel has provided the Sharad Pawar faction, the respondent, "a one-time option to claim a name to its new political formation and provide three preferences to the Commission". (ANI)
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