Ajit Pawar staking claim to NCP symbol: Sharad Pawar group says will reply

The Sharad Pawar-led NCP on Thursday said the Election Commission has sent a letter seeking their response to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Ajit Pawar's faction staking claim to the party name and symbol, and they will reply accordingly.

However, NCP leader Praful Patel, from the Ajit Pawar faction, declined to comment on the matter.

On July 2, Ajit Pawar led a split in the NCP and joined the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government as deputy CM along with eight other NCP legislators as cabinet ministers.

The Ajit Pawar faction had also staked claim to the party symbol, informing the Election Commission (EC) that he was elected NCP chief through a resolution dated June 30, 2023 signed by an "overwhelming majority" of members of the party, both from the legislative and organisational wing.

The Sharad Pawar-led NCP faction's national spokesperson Clyde Crasto on Thursday said the EC has sent a letter seeking their response on the Ajit Pawar's faction staking claim to the party name and symbol.

"We will respond accordingly," Crasto said.

However, Praful Patel said, "I don't want to comment on issues regarding our internal party matters."

"Sharad Pawar continues to remain our idol and we want him to accept the political decision we have taken. We will persuade him," Patel told reporters in Nagpur.

He also said the no-confidence motion moved by the Congress against the Narendra Modi government was an eyewash.

"It shows the frustration of the opposition and even they know the no-confidence motion is of no use given the numbers the BJP has in the Lok Sabha," Patel said.

It is not easy for the opposition bloc Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) to provide a stable alternative, he said.

"Such initiatives have failed in 1977, 1989 and 1996 as they led to political and economic instability," he said.

Patel also said the friendship between the NCP and the BJP is "strong".

"We extend full support to the third term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is necessary to have a stable government with a single face that people trust. It is the need of the hour," he added.