Sharad Pawar faction gets new name day after Ajit camp declared ‘real’ NCP

A day after it recognised the faction led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar as the real Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the Election Commission on Wednesday allotted the group led by NCP founder Sharad Pawar the name of “Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar” for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in Maharashtra.

While passing its final order in the dispute between the two sides, the ECI had asked Sharad Pawar to send a list of three preferences for a name to be used by the faction in the elections to six Rajya Sabha seats on February 27.

On Wednesday, the EC wrote to Sharad Pawar, accepting that the group’s first preference, NCP – Sharadchandra Pawar for the Rajya Sabha elections in Maharashtra as a onetime concession.

The split in the party came to light on July 2, 2023, when Ajit Pawar, Sharad Pawar’s nephew, joined the BJP-Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra along with eight MLAs. After a series of hearings spread over months, the EC decided that Ajit Pawar enjoyed the support of the majority of the party’s legislators.