Ajit Pawar Approaches Election Commission, Claiming To Be Elected As NCP President On June 30

7 July

According to reports, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has officially notified the Election Commission of India (ECI) that he was elected as the president of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on June 30.

Along with this notification, Ajit Pawar has submitted a resolution and affidavits from 40 Members of Parliament and state legislators to support his claim. He has also submitted a petition seeking ownership of the party symbol.

Although the resolution, affidavits, and petition are all dated June 30, the Election Commission received them on July 5, as per ECI sources.

Essentially, this indicates that Ajit Pawar was elected as president by his faction two days prior to the public revelation of the rebellion on July 2. On that day, nine NCP leaders, including Mr. Pawar, were appointed as Ministers in the Shinde government.

On July 3, NCP leader Jayant Patil, representing the Sharad Pawar faction, filed a caveat with the Election Commission. The caveat requested that their faction be given the opportunity to present their case before any decisions are made.

Reportedly, this action was taken just one day after Ajit Pawar and eight others joined the Shiv Sena-BJP led government in the state.

The ECI received a letter from Mr. Patil on July 3, stating that disqualification proceedings against the nine rebel MLAs had been initiated before the competent authority.

Ajit Pawar thus, has filed a petition under Paragraph 15 of the Symbols Order of 1968, asserting the party symbol. This paragraph grants the ECI the exclusive authority to resolve disputes related to the merger or split of a political party.

Notably, the ECI has the power to decide conflicts between rival factions of a recognized political party vying for its symbol and name.

According to reports, the ECI will take appropriate action in accordance with the existing legal framework.

6 July

Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) national executive meeting in Delhi has received a strong backlash from rebel nephew Ajit Pawar and his faction, who claim that the meeting holds no legal significance.

During the meeting, the expulsion of Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare, and nine MLAs was approved by the attending leaders.

The leaders after the National Executive meeting stated "All the 27 state units are with Sharad Pawar all have come out in his support, including the state unit in Maharashtra."

Sharad Pawar said after the meeting "I am the president of NCP, if someone says (that he is the president) then it is completely false, there's no truth in it. There's no importance if someone (Ajit Pawar) says something."

The Ajit Pawar faction in a statement emphasized that the dispute over who represents the true Nationalist Congress Party falls under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Election Commission and no one within the party has the authority to call for any meetings until the dispute is resolved by the ECI.

Sources have indicated that Sharad Pawar will seek legal advice and consult with party leaders to determine the best course of action.

Meanwhile, the rebel faction leaders are also in Delhi, although they are not present at the party office where emotional posters in support of the 83-year-old founder of NCP have been put up.

The Ajit Pawar faction claims that they declared him as the party leader on June 30, a few days before his surprising decision to join the ruling alliance.

They have formally informed the Election Commission and submitted affidavits from 40 party leaders, including MPs, MLAs, and MLCs, who were present during the declaration.

Based on this claim, Ajit Pawar, who was sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra on Sunday and has requested the Nationalist Congress Party name and symbol from the poll panel.

However, in order for the Commission to consider his claim, Ajit Pawar needs the support of 36 MLAs, which represents a two-thirds majority of the party's 53 legislators.

Currently, he appears to have the backing of 32 MLAs, who have been kept sequestered in a Mumbai hotel until this morning.

The signed affidavits from Ajit Pawar's supporters have already been submitted to the Election Commission.

3 July

Declaring in a tweet, right before the press conference being held at 5 pm by Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, Sharad Pawar ordered the removal of Sunil Tatkare and Praful Patel as members of NCP from the register of members.

Notably, he made the order in the capacity as National President of the NCP, even as Sunil Tatkare was announced as new State president of the NCP by Praful Patel in a press conference at 5 pm.

3 Leaders Expelled from Sharad Pawar's NCP

After the political drama that captured the battleground of Maharashtra Politics yesterday, in another development, Sharad Pawar's NCP has expelled three of its leaders - Narendra Rane, Vijay Deshmukh, Shivajirao Garje, for anti-party activities.

Notably, the three leaders have been expelled on count of participating in the oath-taking ceremony of Ajit Pawar and nine other MLAs into the Maharashtra cabinet.

This comes amidst Sharad Pawar's previous statement that he would not take legal action against Ajit Pawar for NCP party symbol and apparatus.

Further, Sharad Pawar has also stated to the media that Congress would be justified in claiming the post of Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly.

Speaking to the media, he claimed that he had enough experiences in the past of MLAs leaving the party. He further added that NCP State President's would be rightful and justified in taking action against any of the MLAs who took oath in the Maharashtra Cabinet yesterday.

This comes amidst Sharad Pawar's claims that many from Ajit Pawar had called him and allegedly said that their ideology was not different from that of NCP, and that they would take a final call in the next few days.

06:00 pm

Ajit Pawar's press conference was followed by one of NCP chief Sharad Pawar.

Here, among other things, Pawar senior made it clear that he would abstain from engaging in a legal dispute with Ajit Pawar concerning the election symbol of NCP.

Instead, said Sharad Pawar, he would reach out to the people and garner their support.

04:10 pm

Ajit Pawar, who took oath as the Deputy CM of Maharashtra addressed a press meet this evening.

Here, he shared that he and other leaders had joined the Maharashtra NDA government as NCP.

Pawar's statement implied that he would not be claiming to be a breakaway faction of the NCP but would claim to be NCP itself. Notably, Pawar was flanked by Praful Patel and Chhagan Bhujbal during the press conference.

Both Patel and Bhujbal are long-time associates of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar.

03:20 pm

Sharad Pawar, the chief of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), has said that he was unaware about Ajit Pawar calling a meet of the NCP MLAs. The said meeting had been called earlier today.

However, he acknowledged that the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Assembly possesses the authority to convene a meeting of Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs).

This statement from Pawar comes amidst intense speculation that Ajit Pawar and other senior NCP leaders could not have taken such an important decision without informing or without the tacit approval of the NCP supremo himself.

02:35 pm

In a significant development, Ajit Pawar has been appointed as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra.

Pawar reached the Raj Bhawan shortly after calling an urgent meeting of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLAs on Sunday. CM Eknath Shinde and Maharashtra Deputy CM, Devendra Fadnavis were also present at the time of the oath-taking.

Apart from Pawar, senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal was too sworn in as a minister, along with seven other leaders.

Pawar was rumoured to be unhappy about being denied the post of the NCP's state unit chief. Earlier, he had offered to resign from the post of Leader of Opposition, seeking an organisational responsibility.

Senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal and party working president Supriya Sule were among the leaders present at the meeting held at Ajit Pawar's official residence 'Devgiri', while state party president Jayant Patil was not present.

Apart from Ajit Pawar and Chhagan Bhujbal, these are the leaders who were sworn in as ministers: Hasan Mushrif, Dhananjay Munde, Dilip Walse Patil, Dharmarao Baba Atram, Aditi Tatkare, Anil Patil, Sanjay Bansode.