Following the Election Commission's decision to grant Ajit Pawar the NCP name and symbol, Sharad Pawar renamed his faction as 'Nationalist Congress Party - Sharadchandra Pawar'. This decision came shortly after his faction proposed three names and symbols for their political organisation.
The Sharad Pawar faction was asked to submit new names for his political formation after the Election Commission announced on Tuesday that the Ajit Pawar faction is the'real NCP'. The commission also assigned the NCP symbol 'Clock' to the group led by Ajit Pawar.
According to media reports, Sharad Pawar's faction suggested the following names: Sharad Pawar Congress, Mi Rashtrawadi, Sharad Swabhimani, and three symbols: 'tea cup','sunflower', and 'rising sun'.
While the Ajit Pawar faction celebrated the verdict, claiming that "priority is given to the majority," Sharad Pawar's camp denounced it as a "murder of democracy" and announced that they would petition the Supreme Court.
The Sharad Pawar-led NCP faction claimed that the poll panel "should be embarrassed" by its decision, and that Ajit Pawar had "politically choked" his uncle and party founder Sharad Pawar.
"It was going to happen. We already knew this. Today, he (Ajit Pawar) has politically choked Sharad Pawar. Only Ajit Pawar is responsible for this. The only one who should be embarrassed by this is the Election Commission. Sharad Pawar is a Phoenix. He will rise from the ashes. We still have power because we have Sharad Pawar. "We will go to the Supreme Court," Sharad Pawar's camp leader, Jitendra Ahwad, told ANI.
Meanwhile, the NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar filed a caveat petition in the Supreme Court to ensure that they have an opportunity to present their case before any decision is made regarding the Election Commission's declaration of their faction as the "real NCP".
In July of last year, Ajit Pawar walked away with the majority of NCP MLAs, supporting the BJP-Shiv Sena government led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in Maharashtra.