‘Procedure followed, ECI informed in Sept 2022’, says Sharad Pawar group day after Ajit camp termed NCP appointments ‘unconstitutional’

Awhad held a press conference along with NCP chief Sharad Pawar. Pawar sat through the entire press conference, neither speaking on the issue nor replying to questions on it.

He, however, rejected a claim made by Patel on Monday that the letter of support to Nagaland Chief Minister by Nagaland’s NCP MLAs meant that the NCP was ready to be part of the NDA led by the BJP. “The support was to the Chief Minister who is not from the BJP. And we did not join the government,” Awhad said.

When asked, Ajit Pawar said that the matter is pending before the ECI and the lawyers will present side at the appropriate platform.

Following the rebellion by Ajit Pawar against his uncle on July 2, the former has staked claim on the party name and symbol. The rebel group has claimed in front of the ECI that on June 30, Ajit was made the chief of the party, replacing Sharad Pawar. The ECI is set to hear the arguments of both sides on October 6.

“It was Praful Patel himself who had signed the papers informing that the election process is completed. And apart from that, legally speaking, the chief returning officer had officially conveyed to the ECI that the elections have been held and president of the party was elected unopposed,” said Awhad, reading out the letter sent to the ECI by Tambaram.

“The only aim of yesterday’s press conference was to pressurise the ECI and to reassure the MLAs who are becoming insecure and upset due to the possibility of them being disqualified,” Awhad said.

Reiterating his earlier statement, the NCP MLA said that the Supreme Court order in the case related to Shiv Sena had “categorically remarked that the legislative party cannot be considered as the main party”. “The reason why Praful Patel is distancing himself from the Eknath Shinde case in the Supreme Court is that the MLAs who have joined Ajit Pawar are under fear now. All this is being done to give them confidence,” he said.

Awhad recalled the press conference on July 3, a day after the rebellion by Ajit Pawar, where all leaders from the Ajit camp termed Sharad Pawar as their leader and party president. “It only means that the Ajit Pawar group’s claim with the ECI was never made on June 30 but was backdated,” he said, questioning the appointment of Ajit Pawar as the new president of the NCP.