No pre-existing dispute in NCP before June 30, says Pawar-led faction

Singhvi said that the allegations have been made by Ajit Pawar and Praful Patel who were among those who not only called the national convention in 2018 where Pawar was elected but also proposed Pawar’s name accepting him as the supreme leader of NCP against whom no one else wants to contest elections

Mumbai: The Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Friday said there was no pre-existing dispute in the party before June 30, 2023, when Ajit Pawar had approached the Election Commission (EC) staking claim to the party name as well as the symbol, and thus the petition on dispute in the party filed by Ajit cannot be accepted.

Mumbai, India - May 02, 2023: NCP leaders, workers, supporters of Sharad Pawar protest in solidarity against his resignation as party president urging him to reconsider his decision, at Y.B. Chavan Centre, Nariman Point, in Mumbai, India, on Tuesday, May 02, 2023. (Photo by Bhushan Koyande/HT Photo) (HT PHOTO)

The NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) also cited previous verdicts of the EC which state that a pre-existing dispute is necessary in order to consider a dispute in a party and conduct a hearing accordingly.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who is representing Sharad Pawar said, “There was no opposition to Pawar’s leadership from 1999 till 2018 when he was re-elected as the national president of NCP. In 2023, for the first time, allegations were made that the Pawar’s election held in 2018 and later at a lower level in 2020, 2021 and 2022, were illegal.”

Singhvi said that the allegations have been made by Ajit Pawar and Praful Patel who were among those who not only called the national convention in 2018 where Pawar was elected but also proposed Pawar’s name accepting him as the supreme leader of NCP against whom no one else wants to contest elections.

“All the documents and affidavits filed by them before June 30 did not point out any dispute over leadership. Suddenly after June 30 making these accusations. However, going by the verdict of the election commission in the Brahmanand Reddy case of 1978, a pre-existing dispute is necessary to consider a dispute and conduct a hearing before the commission,” Singhvi told reporters outside ECI headquarters in New Delhi. “One cannot create a dispute by just filing a petition,” he stressed.

The argument by the Pawar-led faction will continue during the next hearing scheduled on November 29.

Sunil Tatkare, Maharashtra president, Ajit Pawar faction, said that they will prove them wrong. “Arguments from their side are going on. During our turn, we will demolish their claims,” Tatkare said in response.