Ajit Pawar declared himself NCP chief before EC two days prior to split

Two days before the split in the NCP became public, Ajit Pawar claimed in a petition before the Election Commission that he had replaced Sharad Pawar as party president, sources said on Wednesday.

While he took oath as Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister only on July 2, Ajit also urged the Election Commission on June 30 that his faction be considered the real NCP and its symbol (watch) be allotted to them.

Appearing to prepare well in advance for the eventual split with his uncle, Ajit Pawar also got signatures of 40-odd MPs, MLAs and MLCs on affidavits dated June 30 pledging support, which the faction submitted before the Election Commission on Wednesday.

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Sources said the Election Commission was in receipt of a petition under Section 15 of The Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 by Ajit Pawar on June 30. An undated resolution "unanimously electing Ajit Pawar as president of NCP" has also been submitted, sources said.

Sharad Pawar faction leader Jayant R Patil has also approached the Election Commission on July 3 with a caveat petition, informing it that disqualification proceedings have been filed before the competent authority for disqualification of nine MLAs.

Sources said the Election Commission would take action "as per extant legal framework". The Election Commission is now likely to issue notice to the Sharad Pawar faction asking them to file their response to the plea by the Ajit faction.

Ajit Pawar faction said in a statement the resolution was passed on June 30 by an "overwhelming majority" of NCP members, both from the legislative and organisational wing. It also said Praful Patel continues to be the party's working president.

The sequence of events related to Ajit Pawar's moves in the Election Commission showed that he was preparing cautiously. He submitted the petition with the EC two days before he and eight other MLAs took oath as ministers in Shiv Sena-BJP government.

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Interestingly, Ajit Pawar and Praful Patel had maintained that Sharad Pawar remains the president of the party. At a press conference on July 3, Ajit Pawar had responded to a question on who the NCP national president is by saying, "have you forgotten who Sharad Pawar is?"

The petition and affidavits dated June 30 and the undated resolution are seen as the Ajit Pawar faction's attempt to make their case legally stronger. The senior Pawar responded to his nephew approaching the Election Commission, saying he would not allow anyone to "snatch" the party and its symbol.

Sharad Pawar has already expelled Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare, both MPs, from the party besides the faction approaching Maharashtra Speaker Rahul Narwekar seeking to disqualify Ajit Pawar and eight others who were sworn-in as ministers on Sunday.