Founder of the Nationalist Congress Party Sharad Pawar has filed a fresh petition in the proceedings pending before the Supreme Court, seeking ban on the NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar from using the ‘Clock’ symbol in the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly polls.
A Bench led by Justice Surya Kant will hear the plea on October 15.
Filed by Advocate Pranjal Agrawal, the petition contended that faction led by Sharad Pawar suffered loss of votes in the recent Lok Sabha elections as the faction led by Ajit Pawar contested with the cock symbol, which led to confusion in mind of voters as to who represented the NCP.
The petition requested the Apex Court to direct Ajit Pawar to move the Election Commission of India for a fresh symbol for the coming Assembly polls.
It further urged that the faction led by Ajit Pawar should not be allowed to use the clock symbol till the top court of the country adjudicated on the appeal filed by Sharad Pawar against the ECI recognising the Ajit-led faction as the real NCP and awarding the clock symbol to it.
The petition contended that the Sharad Pawar faction contested the Lok Sabha elections 2024 on a man blowing turha symbol, while Ajit fought on the clock symbol.
The voters on ground were faced with immense confusion and dilemma in respect of who represented the Nationalist Congress Party. This confusion inevitably resulted in Respondent No. 1 (Ajit Pawar) securing unfair electoral gains and the petitioner suffering loss of votes. In fact, the Respondent No. 1 has been leveraging upon the existing confusion in the minds of the people due to long-standing association between the clock symbol and the petitioner, it added.
The plea sought fairness and a level-playing field by omitting any confusion in the minds of the electorate on the grounds that the clock symbol has been reserved for the Nationalist Congress Party for more than 25 years and was synonymous with the petitioner.