Boost for NCP (SP) ahead of Maharashtra polls as EC allows Sharad Pawar-led party to accept donations

An eight-member delegation of the NCP-SP party led by its working president Supriya Sule met the commission on Monday.

New Delhi: The Election Commission on Monday allowed the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) to accept donations from the public against the backdrop of Maharashtra Assembly elections.

The order came on Pawar-led party's request to certify the status of the party so that it can accept voluntary contributions from the public.

In its three-page communication, the poll panel said that it has authorised the party to "accept any amount of contribution voluntarily offered to it by any person or company other than a government company" in compliance under Section 29 B and Section 29C of the Representation of People Act, 1951, which govern the contribution to all political parties.

An eight-member delegation of the NCP-SP party led by Working President and senior MP Supriya Sule met the EC earlier in the day.

In July last year, Ajit Pawar had walked away from his uncle Sharad Pawar and claimed the symbol as well as the party name Nationalist Congress Party, citing the support of over two-thirds of the lawmakers in the Maharashtra assembly. The EC had upheld Ajit Pawar's claim while asking Sharad Pawar to pick a new name as an interim arrangement for the Lok Sabha election.

While Sharad Pawar approached the Supreme Court on the EC decision, the poll body said that the authorisation to the NCP (Sharadchandra Prasad) to accept donations will be applicable till the final disposal of the petition in the apex court.