NCP founder Sharad Pawar asks Supreme Court to restrain Ajit Pawar from using 'Clock' symbol

New Delhi: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) founder Sharad Pawar has filed a fresh plea in the Supreme Court, in a pending proceeding before it, seeking a direction to restrain the Ajit Pawar faction from using the 'clock' symbol for upcoming assembly polls in Maharashtra.

He sought a direction from the top court that Ajit Pawar should apply for a fresh symbol for the purpose of contesting the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly polls.

His plea claimed the immediate case of the petitioner (Sharad Pawar) is that during the recently concluded Indian general election (Lok Sabha), where the Sharad Pawar faction contested on the 'man blowing turha' symbol and Ajit Pawar on the 'clock' symbol, registered voters on the 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 the loss of votes in the said elections," the application claimed.

He filed the application, claiming large-scale confusion caused and engineered in the minds of the people due to misleading statements of respondent No. 1 (Ajit Pawar) and his representatives. 

"In fact, respondent No. 1 has been leveraging upon the existing confusion in the minds of the people due to the long-standing association between the 'Clock' symbol and the petitioner," the application said.

The application said that the Ajit Pawar faction should not be allowed to use the ‘clock’ symbol till the apex court adjudicated on the appeal filed by Sharad Pawar against the Election Commission of India (ECI) recognising Ajit Pawar faction as the real NCP and awarding the 'clock' symbol to it. 

The application asked the apex court to "ensure fairness and a level playing field by omitting any confusion in the minds of the electorate in relation to the 'clock' symbol reserved for the Nationalist Congress Party and the 25-year-long synonymity of the petitioner with it, as its National President."

The application stated in appreciation of the fact that the degree of confusion amongst the voters was prevalent in the recently concluded Parliamentary Elections, the confusion would potentially be greater in the upcoming Assembly elections due to the relatively smaller size of the Constituencies.

"Moreover, the degree of confusion is directly proportional to the impact on the electorate and hence possesses a greater propensity in disrupting the conduct of free and fair elections,” it claimed. 

The apex court is scheduled to hear the matter on October 15.

On March 19 order, the apex court had directed the Ajit Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party to put a disclaimer in publicity materials that allocation of 'clock' symbol to it was sub judice.

The court had also asked the Ajit Pawar group to meticulously make such a declaration in every advertisement material, audio and video clips.

Sharad Pawar group had challenged the Election Commission's decision of February 6, 2024 recognising the group by Ajit Pawar as the NCP and awarding it party symbol of 'Clock'.

Sharad Pawar is uncle of Ajit Pawar and has founded the NCP.

Ajit Pawar and eight other legislators of the NCP joined Maharashtra’s ruling coalition of Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena and BJP in July, 2023. 

The term of current Maharashtra Assembly is coming to an end on November 26 and the election schedules can be announced this month.