The Supreme Court on Wednesday questioned the frequent use of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar’s name in online content shared by the Ajit Pawar-led faction amidst ongoing campaigning in Maharashtra for the upcoming Assembly elections. The remark came during a hearing of the case Sharad Pawar v. Ajit Anantrao Pawar and anr, as reported by Bar and Bench.
A Bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan advised both NCP factions to focus on their respective campaigns and assured that voters are discerning enough to see through any attempts at creating confusion.
The Court directed Ajit Pawar’s faction not to rely on Sharad Pawar’s name in the election battle. “You should try to stand on your own feet, now that you have an ideological difference with Sharad Pawar,” the Bench commented.
The Supreme Court had previously directed the Ajit Pawar-led faction to include a disclaimer in its election advertisements, clarifying that its use of the clock symbol was subject to the outcome of ongoing legal proceedings with the Sharad Pawar-led faction regarding ownership of the party symbol. The court’s directive aimed to ensure transparency in the symbol dispute amidst the heightened political campaigning.
In the previous hearing, the Ajit Pawar faction stated that it would issue new Marathi disclaimers in newspapers concerning its use of the clock symbol in the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections.
Sharad Pawar has argued that the Ajit Pawar faction has created “large-scale confusion” among voters by using the clock symbol without a disclaimer.