SC tells ECI to recognise 'man blowing turha' as symbol of Sharad Pawar faction for Lok Sabha elections

SC tells ECI to recognise ‘man blowing turha’ as symbol of Sharad Pawar faction for Lok Sabha elections

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Election Commission to recognise ‘man blowing turha’ as the symbol for the Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP for the upcoming Lok Sabha and assembly polls.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and KV Viswanathan also permitted the Sharad Pawar faction to use ‘Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar’ as its name for the upcoming polls.

The apex court also directed the Ajit Pawar faction to carry a declaration in English, Hindi, Marathi media stating that the ‘clock’ symbol allotted to it is subject to the outcome of the pending case about whether it is real NCP.

“Declaration about ‘clock’ poll symbol being sub-judice has to be made in all poll-related advertisements by Ajit Pawar group,” the court said.

The SC also asked the election commission to not allot the ‘man blowing turha’ symbol to any other party or candidate.

The Sharad Pawar-founded NCP split in July last year after Ajit Pawar and eight other MLAs joined the Eknath Shinde government.

The poll panel later gave the party name and ‘clock’ symbol to the faction led by deputy CM Ajit Pawar.

“Don’t use name and pictures of Sharad Pawar”

The SC on March 14 had requested a response from the Nationalist Congress Party faction led by Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar regarding a plea from the Sharad Pawar group, alleging the misuse of Sharad Pawar’s name and images for political purposes.

The bench emphasised, “We need a categorical and unconditional undertaking that the name and pictures of Sharad Pawar will not be used.”

Previously, the apex court had directed that the Election Commission’s decision on February 7, assigning ‘Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar’ as the party name for the Sharad Pawar faction, will remain in effect until further notice.

The court had also asked for a response from the Ajit Pawar-led faction regarding a plea from Sharad Pawar against the February 6 order of the Election Commission, which recognized the group led by the Maharashtra deputy chief minister as the legitimate Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

(With inputs from agencies)

For more news like this visit TOI. Get all the Latest News, City News, India News, Business News, and Sports News. For Entertainment News, TV News, and Lifestyle Tips visit Etimes