"Chinh Tumhara, Baap Humara": Posters supporting Sharad Pawar in Mumbai

Posters endorsing Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar appeared outside the NCP office in Mumbai, following the Election Commission's decision favoring the faction led by Ajit Pawar in the ongoing internal dispute within the NCP. The Election Commission has granted the party symbol and name to the Ajit Pawar faction. In response, the Sharad Pawar-led faction is set to challenge the EC's directive in the Supreme Court and is also seeking a temporary allocation of a new name and symbol in adherence to the election authority's guidelines. The faction is expected to express a preference for the 'rising sun' symbol.

The Election Commission, in its ruling, favored the Ajit Pawar faction based on established criteria for petition admissibility. The assessment considered the party constitution's objectives, the integrity of the constitution itself, and evaluations of both organizational and legislative majority. The examination of legislative majority favored the Ajit Pawar group, revealing that both factions operated outside the party's constitutional framework and organizational election procedures. This resulted in positions being deemed primarily appointed by self-appointed members of the electoral college, undermining internal party democracy.