Ajit Pawar-led faction is real NCP, rules Election Commission

The Election Commission(EC) settles the dispute in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), rules in favour of the faction led by Ajit Pawar, after more than 10 hearings spread over more than 6 months. Election Commission of India provides a one-time option to claim a name for its new political formation and provide three preferences to the Commission. The concession is to be utilised by 3 pm on 7 Feb, 2024.Ajit Pawar gets Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) name and symbol after more than 10 hearings of legal teams.
The NCP witnessed a split in July 2023 after Ajit Pawar rebelled against his uncle and NCP founder Sharad Pawar and joined the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra. Both factions had staked claim to the party name and symbol before the Election Commission. However, the poll panel has ruled in favour of Ajit Pawar's faction, declaring it as the 'real' NCP.The Election Commission said that the "test of legislative majority" helped Ajit Pawar's faction clinch the NCP symbol in view of the disputed internal organisational elections.

The Election Commission’s decision to announce the Ajit Pawar faction as the real Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), was taken under pressure, a leader of the Sharad Pawar-led group said. “This is the murder of democracy. What happened is unfortunate,” former Maharashtra minister Anil Deshmukh said.