The Supreme Court on February 19 allowed Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) founder Sharad Pawar and his faction to operate under the name ‘Nationalist Congress Party-Sharad Chandra Pawar’ apparently beyond the Rajya Sabha polls scheduled on February 27.
The Election Commission of India (EC) had allocated the new name to the Sharad Pawar faction in an order on February 7 as a one-time measure to participate in the Rajya Sabha polls.
In a further interim relief for Mr. Sharad Pawar, a Bench of Justices Surya Kant and K.V. Viswanathan permitted his faction to apply for a party symbol. It directed the EC to allot the Sharad Pawar faction a party symbol within a week of their application.
