‘EC, Speaker’s decision on NCP matter unfair’

BARAMATI: Nationalist Congress Party founder Sharad Pawar on Saturday said the verdicts given by the Election Commission and Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on the NCP matter were “unfair”, and his faction would approach the SC to get back the party name and symbol.

The Sharad Pawar-led group - now officially named as NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) - suffered a setback on Thursday after Speaker Narwekar held that the faction led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, was the real NCP. He also rejected the disqualification petitions filed by both the rival groups against each other’s MLAs.

The ruling came days after the Election Commission held the Ajit Pawar-led faction as the real NCP and allotted him the party name and symbol ‘clock’.

“We had anticipated such a decision. The Assembly Speaker failed to maintain the dignity of his position. The decisions taken by the Election Commission and the Speaker are unfair. Therefore, we are approaching the SC over the issue of the NCP name and symbol,” Sharad Pawar said. On former chief minister and Congress veteran Ashok Chavan joining the BJP, he said: “These days, the effect of multiple agencies, such as ACB and ED, has increased and it can be clearly seen how they are being used against the

Opposition.”