Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister and NCP President Ajit Pawar.
Credit: NCP
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar-led faction to publish a disclaimer in newspapers, including Marathi ones, that the issue of allocation of "clock" symbol was pending in court.
The disclaimer was directed to be published in the dailies within 36 hours of the court order.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta and Ujjal Bhuyan was hearing the Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar led factions over the purported use and misuse of the "clock" symbol when it suggested both the groups to focus on voters instead.
“Don’t waste your energy in courts. You both should go and be with the voters to woo them,” the bench told the counsel representing the factions.
It asked senior advocate Balbir Singh, appearing for the Ajit Pawar faction, to make a prominent disclaimer in the newspapers including Marathi ones within 36 hours.
Singh claimed the candidates had filed their nominations and the stage of withdrawal of names was over but the Sharad Pawar faction was attempting to disrupt the entire election process.
On the contrary, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing the Sharad Pawar faction, contended that the "clock" symbol had been associated with the veteran leader for the last 30 years and the opposing side was trying to misuse it.
Singhvi, therefore, sought a direction to the Ajit Pawar-led group to seek a new symbol.
Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
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