Ajit Pawar faction's counsel on NCP name, symbol: Sharad Pawar faction are delaying hearing

Ajit Pawar/ PTI

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, the counsel for Ajit Pawar's faction in the ongoing dispute over the NCP's name and symbol following the factional split in July, accused the Sharad Pawar faction of postponing the Election Commission (EC) hearing, arguing that the hearing had been repeatedly postponed because of the other side's indecision.

"They (Sharad Pawar faction) were delaying it, Election Commission ultimately said Friday...We hope their hearing will end on Friday and our side will resume on Tuesday. They sought time for two more days and EC granted it; we opposed it because they're just delaying," Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi told ANI.

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According to Rohatgi, the EC gave the opposing faction's hearing more time in spite of their objections. He expressed disapproval of the Sharad Pawar faction's tactics of delay and hoped that the hearing would end soon so that their side could present their arguments.

"On October 26 under the nose of the commission, the other side filed an affidavit saying this man supports Ajit Pawar. He was shocked. He has filed an affidavit saying I know nothing about this, I never supported Ajit Pawar against Sharad Pawar, and I am a strong supporter of Sharad Pawar. The poor man comes to the Election Commission, files an affidavit," Singhvi told media.

"They are making a fool of themselves. He is a founder-member along with Sharad Pawar. He is an NCP person at the national level. They have no shame...," Singhvi further said.

Abhishek Manu Singhvi, speaking for the Sharad Pawar side, launched a counterattack, pointing out purported inconsistencies in the affidavits submitted by Ajit Pawar's side, especially with reference to Pratap Singh Chowdhury's support. Singhvi claimed that the claims made by the Ajit Pawar side were untrue and that their credibility was low.

Singhvi went on to denounce the Ajit Pawar faction's petition as frivolous and demanded that it be dismissed, adding that the faction ought to pay for their actions.

Speaking about the proceedings before the Election Commission, Singhvi told ANI, "We have shown that the Election Commission has the jurisdiction and should file a criminal complaint for such open forgery and fraud, which is their power under the IPC. And we have requested them to consider filing that."

"This is nothing but an afterthought. It is a non-maintainable, false, frivolous, and vexatious petition. It should be dismissed at the threshold with cost against these people," he added.

In the meantime, the EC ordered the parties to exchange submitted documents. Ajit Pawar first announced the split on June 30, and it has since resulted in conflict and legal disputes between the parties.

With ANI inputs