Sharad Vs Ajit: Who Will Get NCP Clock Symbol? Here's What Junior Pawar Said Before EC Hearing

Maharashtra Dy CM and rebel NCP leader Ajit Pawar on Sunday said that both factions of the NCP would represent their sides before the Election Commission on October 6.

Maha Dy CM Ajit Pawar (Left), Sharad Pawar (Right)

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has said that he would accept the Election Commission's final decision on the NCP symbol fight after the top poll body hears arguments from both factions on October 6. He said that both sides would put their views before the EC and he would accept the final decision, according to ANI. This comes a week after the poll body refused to accept the Sharad Pawar-led bloc's arguments that there was no split in NCP and called both sides for a hearing on Oct 6.

"...Election Commission will give the final decision...After getting the dates, both sides will be represented before the Election Commission...I will accept the final decision that comes after that..." Ajit Pawar said, as quoted by ANI.

Ajit Pawar had joined the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde)-BJP alliance in a dramatic turn of events shocking everyone within the NCP. He took with him key party leaders and joined the Maharashtra government. He was made the Deputy CM while several others were given berth in the state cabinet. The junior Pawar continued to maintain that there was no split in the party and that Sharad Pawar would continue to be its President. However, he moved the poll panel and filed affidavits of MLAs and MPs seeking the name and symbol of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

Earlier, senior NCP leader Sharad Pawar had said that Ajit Pawar was still a leader of the party. Pawar also claimed that there was no split in the NCP. The senior Pawar comment came after Congress claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had offered Ajit Pawar the post of Chief Minister on the condition that secure NCP chief Sharad Pawar's support to the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction)-BJP alliance. 

"There is no conflict that he [Ajit Pawar] is our leader. There is no split in NCP. How does a split happen in a party? It happens when a big group separates from the party at the national level. But there is no such situation in NCP today. Yes, some leaders took a different stance, but this can't be called a split. They can do so in a democracy," Sharad Pawar was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.