The election horn has sounded in Maharashtra. We are now just weeks away from the parliamentary elections. Earlier on Tuesday, the Sharad Pawar camp’s NCP once again asked the Supreme Court to stop the Ajit Pawar-led organization from using the ‘clock’ symbol. The Supreme Court will hear the case on October 24. Sharad Pawar’s camp argued that their voters were confused over the clock symbol in the Lok Sabha elections as they had been voting on it for a long time. But this legal battle is not just against the NCP, this fight is being fought against the Shiv Sena as well.
The Supreme Court faced two main issues:
1. After a party dissolves, which faction will use the old party’s symbol.
2. What happens if an MLA is disqualified after a malfunction occurs?
army vs army battle
In 2022, the Election Commission recognized the faction led by Eknath Shinde as the “real” Shiv Sena, while Uddhav Thackeray’s faction was named “Shiv Sena” (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) “. The ECI on February 17, 2023 approved the use of the name “Shiv Sena (UBT)” and the “torch” symbol by the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction. Uddhav Thackeray challenged the decision in the Supreme Court. The main issue has not yet been brought to a hearing, and no hearing date has been given beyond September 2023.
NCP vs NCP
The Election Commission declared Ajit Pawar’s faction to be the genuine National Communists. Sharad Pawar questioned the ECI’s decision. Questions were also raised over the decision to allow Ajit Pawar to use the ‘clock’ symbol. In March, the Supreme Court directed the National Communist Party (Sharad Pawar) to use the ‘Turha’ symbol. The court then directed Ajit Pawar’s faction to issue a public notice stating that the allotment of the ‘clock’ symbol was pending before the court.
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However, after the Lok Sabha elections, Sharad Pawar argued in court that the permission to use the clock symbol should be revoked.
Disqualification of rebel provincial councilors
As the Shiv Sena disbands in 2022, Eknath Shinde becomes the Chief Minister in the BJP-backed government. Meanwhile, the Uddhav faction filed disqualification applications against 39 MLAs for violating the “party whip”. Meanwhile, after the NCP split in 2023, both parties also filed disqualification petitions against the MLAs of the other party. The petitions are still pending before the Speaker of Parliament until the Supreme Court sets a time limit for a decision on the matter.
Ultimately, the Speaker of Parliament rejected all disqualification applications on January 10, 2024. The case goes back to the Supreme Court.
Speaking to India Today, a lawyer clarified that the party symbol issue is “by far the most important and pressing issue, both in and outside the courts.” The disqualification issue will be decided automatically after the elections.
