'Ajit Pawar's Faction Is NCP': EC Directs Sharad Pawar To Claim A New Name

EC further granted time 7 February, to the Sharad Pawar faction to claim a new name.

The Election Commission of India on Tuesday, 6 February, ruled that Ajit Pawar's faction is the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and allowed it use the party name and symbol.

“The faction led by petitioner Ajit Anantrao Pawar is the Nationalist Congress Party and is entitled to use its name and reserved symbol ‘Clock’ for the purposes of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment), Order 1968”.

The development comes as a major setback for Sharad Pawar.

In its order, EC stated that it "had examined the applicability of all three test i.e., 'Test of Aims and Objectives of the Party Constitution', 'Test of the Party Constitution' and 'Test of Majority' to adjudicate the present dispute case."