EC allots name to Pawar group

The Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar is now the official party name of the faction led by Sharad Pawar, the Election Commission of India (ECI) declared on Wednesday, paving the way for the party to contest the Rajya Sabha elections for six seats in Maharashtra on February 27.

- Aditi Agrawal

The development came a day after the poll panel recognised the faction led by Sharad Pawar's nephew and Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar as the real NCP and allotted the party name and poll symbol 'clock' to it.

In its order on Tuesday, ECI allowed the Sharad Pawar faction a "one-time option" to claim a name for its political party and provide three preferences in view of the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls. The poll panel gave the group till Wednesday evening to send its choices for the party name.

On Wednesday, the Sharad Pawar faction submitted to the poll panel its three preferences: Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar, Nationalist Party-Sharadrao Congress Pawar, and NCP-Sharad Pawar - in the same order.