The Supreme Court has restrained the Ajit Pawar-led faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) from using images, videos, or photos of Sharad Pawar in the run-up to the Maharashtra assembly elections scheduled for November 20. The development follows an earlier order of the court that both factions of the NCP should maintain separate identities in the electoral contest.
“Stand on Your Own Legs,” Court Says
While pronouncing its judgment, the Supreme Court said that the faction of Ajit Pawar needs to learn to “stand on its own legs” and cannot be taken for granted in the wake of great ideological differences between them and the faction led by Sharad Pawar. The court further observed that now that the faction under the leadership of Ajit Pawar has disowned Sharad Pawar, it cannot use the name, image, or videos of the latter while canvassing votes.
Once you have dissociated from Sharad Pawar, you won’t be using his name, photo, or video. That was according to the court as reported. On November 19, the matter will be revisited.
Focus on Individual Campaigns
The bench comprising of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan urged both sides to focus on their respective campaigns as the time for polls was now heating up. The court also showed conviction that the common sense of the people would come across through the politicking.
Dispute over political party symbol
Earlier, the court had ordered the Ajit Pawar group to print a disclaimer on their campaign hoardings and advertisements that they were using the ‘clock’ symbol. The symbol is in dispute between the Sharad Pawar group and Ajit Pawar’s group. The court accepted the assurance given by Ajit Pawar’s group that a disclaimer in Marathi would be carried in all newspapers where the symbol is published.
It was alleged that “Piggybacking” was done on Uncle’s Goodwill.
Sharad Pawar’s NCP argued, through Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, that the Ajit Pawar faction was still operating on the good will of the senior politician. The lawyer also said the Ajit Pawar faction still is not strictly obeying the court’s direction. The court asked whether Sharad Pawar’s faction intended to suggest that people did not know about the split in the family.
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