The Election Commission on Wednesday allotted 'Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar' as the party name for the group led by Sharad Pawar. The order by the poll authority came a day after it gave the Nationalist Congress Party name and the "clock" election symbol to the group led by Ajit Pawar, who had walked away with a majority NCP MLAs in the Maharashtra assembly in July last year. The Commission had asked the Sharad Pawar group to suggest three names of which one could be allotted in view of the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in Maharashtra. Accordingly, the Sharad Pawar group has suggested the names -- Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar, Nationalist Congress Party -- Sharadrao Pawar and Nationalist Congress Party-Sharad Pawar -- to the Commission. The faction had also sought 'banyan tree' as the election symbol for itself. The Commission conveyed to Sharad Pawar that it has "acceded to your first preference, i.e. 'Nationalist Congress PArty -- Sharadchand
The Election Commission settled the dispute within the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Tuesday in favour of the faction led by petitioner Ajit Pawar
NCP MLA Rohit Pawar, grand nephew of party supremo Sharad Pawar, appeared before the Enforcement Directorate here on Wednesday for questioning in connection with a probe into the alleged Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank scam, and left after more than 11 hours. The MLA, who left the ED office in South Mumbai around 10 pm, told reporters that he was cooperating with the agency which has called him again for questioning on February 1. Earlier, NCP MP Supriya Sule and other party leaders accompanied the 38-year-old legislator as he arrived at the central agency's office at Ballard Estate around 10.30 am. Before going to the probe agency's office, Rohit Pawar went to the NCP office's located nearby and met Sharad Pawar, touched his feet, and also interacted with other party leaders. He also visited the Vidhan Bhavan and paid tributes at the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and a plaque of the Indian Constitution. Before Rohit Pawar entered the ED office, Sule handed him over a c
Before Rohit Pawar entered the ED office, Sule handed him over a copy of the Indian Constitution
Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday said the Enforcement Directorate was being used as a tool to terrorise and silence political opponents. He was responding to a query on grandnephew and party MLA Rohit Pawar getting summons from the ED to appear before the agency on January 24 for questioning as part of its money laundering probe into the alleged Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) scam. The MSCB case stems from an August 2019 FIR of the Mumbai Police's Economic Offences Wing. The ED had raided Baramati Agro, a company owned by the Karjat-Jamkhed MLA, and some linked entities in Pune, Aurangabad etc on January 5. Hitting out at the Centre, Sharad Pawar said, "The ED is being used to silence political opponents through misuse of power and to terrorise them. We have to go to the people to defeat such tendencies." Asked about seat-sharing for the Lok Sabha polls, which are to be held in the first half of this year, the former Union minister said talks are
The Enforcement Directorate has summoned Maharashtra MLA Rohit Pawar, a grandnephew of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, for questioning on January 24 as part of its money laundering probe into the alleged Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) scam, official sources said Friday. The federal agency had raided the premises of Baramati Agro, a company owned by Rohit Pawar, and some linked entities on January 5 in Baramati, Pune, Aurangabad and some other locations. Rohit Pawar, 38, is a first-time NCP MLA from the Karjat-Jamkhed seat in the Maharashtra assembly and is the owner and CEO of Baramati Agro. He belongs to the Sharad Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Rohit Pawar is the nephew of Baramati MP Supriya Sule, and the state's deputy chief minister and Baramati MLA Ajit Pawar. The Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank money laundering case stems from an August 2019 FIR of the Mumbai Police's Economic Offences Wing. Reacting to the raids, the Nationalist Congress Pa
NCP chief Sharad Pawar stated that he would visit the Ram temple after the 'Pran Prathistha' ceremony as it would be easier to have the darshan of Lord Ram Lalla
Sharad Pawar's nephew has been asked to pay penalty within 45 days for violating norms in Poonawalla Fincorp (earlier Magma Fincorp) case
In a press conference, the NCP chief stressed the importance of respecting the Prime Minister and his post
NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday appealed to the Maharashtra government to take seriously the case of Bilkis Bano, who was gangraped and her seven family members murdered in 2002, and keep in mind what the Supreme Court has said about the "heinous crime". The Supreme Court on Monday quashed the remission granted by the Gujarat government to 11 convicts in the case, while slamming the state for being "complicit" with an accused and abusing its discretion. It ordered all the convicts, who were released prematurely on Independence Day in 2022, back to jail within two weeks. Excoriating the Gujarat government, the apex court said it "usurped" the power of the Maharashtra government to grant remission to the convicts. After Bilkis Bano voiced apprehension over tampering with evidence and risk to witnesses, the Gujarat High Court had transferred the trial in the case from Ahmedabad to Mumbai. The 11 convicts in the case can approach the Maharashtra government with request for remission
The Enforcement Directorate on Friday searched premises of Baramati Agro, a company owned by MLA Rohit Pawar, grand nephew of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, and linked entities as part of a money laundering probe in the alleged Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank scam, official sources said. At least six locations in Baramati, Pune, Aurangabad and Amravati are being searched, they said. The office of Baramati Agro in Baramati town is also being covered. The money laundering case stems from an August, 2019 FIR of the Mumbai Police Economic Offences (EOW) wing. The police complaint came after the Bombay High Court issued an order on August 22 that year to investigate the allegations of selling sugar factories in the Maharashtra cooperative sector through alleged fraudulent means and also that they were sold at thowaway prices.
He further said that after assuming power at the Centre in 2014, the BJP announced several programmes and gave a host of assurances, but did not implement them and "betrayed" people
Backing Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over Enforcement Directorate summoning him, Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar on Thursday said the Centre was misusing power to discourage those who do not have similar political views. Addressing party workers here, Pawar said summons have been sent by the central probe agency to Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren as well and feared he too could be arrested. Pawar said in the last 10 years, people have voted Kejriwal to power, adding that Aam Aadmi Party ministers have been jailed and steps were being taken to arrest him as well. "He has been issued notices to appear before the ED. The chief minister of the country's capital. Everyone in Delhi knows he is a simple man with a clean image. It will not be surprising if he is arrested," Pawar claimed. "This means efforts are being made to discourage those who do not have similar political views by misusing power," Pawar alleged. Kejriwal, who is also the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) nation
This comes a day after BJP MLA Ram Kadam urged the Maharashtra government for a one-day ban on alcohol and meat on the Ayodhya consecration ceremony day on January 22
Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party's Maharashtra unit chief Jayant Patil on Wednesday said since the party was in power for a long time, little emphasis was given to the principles on which it was built as the focus was on power. Addressing party workers on the first day of the NCP's two-day conclave at Shirdi in Ahmednagar district, Patil said the party is firmly grounded on the ideals of social reformers Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule and Dr B R Ambedkar. "Pawar saheb built this party based on ideals, but since we were in power for a long time, we ignored the ideals and focused on power," he said. "When we were in power, we gave little emphasis to the thought of focusing on ideals which is why some people got attracted to different principles without giving any thought to it," Patil said, in an apparent dig at the Ajit Pawar-led group of the NCP. He said 2024 will be a year of struggle and urged party workers to fight this ideological battle. Founded b
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is unlikely to attend the inauguration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya in January, a senior TMC leader said on Wednesday. According to TMC sources, neither Banerjee nor any representative of the West Bengal government or the party will be present at the programme scheduled on January 22. "There is no question of Mamata Banerjee or any other representative of the TMC attending the Ram Mandir inauguration at Ayodhya next month. We don't believe in mixing politics with religion," a senior party leader privy to the development told PTI. The Ram temple will be inaugurated on January 22, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and more than 6,000 people expected to attend the grand "Pran Pratistha" ceremony. CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury has turned down an invitation to attend the inauguration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, the party said on Tuesday while underlining its belief that religion is a ..
Justifying the ban, Consumer Affairs Secretary also noted that other major onion-producing nations, such as Egypt and Turkey, have banned exports, putting pressure on the Indian crop
NCP president Sharad Pawar on Monday demanded that the ban on onion export be lifted and claimed the central government was ignoring the hard work of farmers. Addressing onion growers, who have been protesting against the Centre's decision, in Chandwad village of Nashik district in Maharashtra, Pawar said cultivators need to be united and demand their rights. "Nashik can show the way," he added. The Centre has banned onion exports till March 31 next year to increase domestic availability and to keep prices in check. Farmers in parts of Maharashtra have been protesting against the Centre's decision. Onion growers are small farmers who toil for a good crop, Pawar said, adding that during his tenure as Union agriculture minister, he never brought down the onion prices nor banned exports. "The ban on onion exports should be lifted immediately," he said. Pawar further said, "Bangladesh has levied Rs 160 (import) duty on grapes. The grape producers will face hardships due to this deci
NCP founder Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Congress leader Digvijaya Singh will address a public meeting on the culmination of the Nationalist Congress Party's Yuva Sangharsh Yatra' here on December 12, Maharashtra ex-home minister Anil Deshmukh said on Wednesday. The three leaders will address the public event at the Zero Mile area in Nagpur, said Deshmukh, who belongs to the NCP's Sharad Pawar faction. The yatra led by NCP MLA Rohit Pawar, who represents the Karjat Jamkhed assembly constituency, started on October 24 from Pune to highlight various issues, including the ones faced by youths, in Maharashtra. The foot march is about 120 km from Nagpur, said the MLA on X on Wednesday. It will culminate in Nagpur, after covering more than 800 km, during the Winter Session of the state legislature. While Sharad Pawar, Thackeray and Singh will be prominently present during the public meeting in Nagpur on December 12, leaders from the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), ..
The Sharad Pawar faction on Friday questioned before the Election Commission the very premise of dispute in the NCP, claiming those who were part of conducting organisational polls in the party in 2018 cannot claim in 2023 that those elections were flawed. Sharad Pawar faction's counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi said between 1999 and 2018, there were no allegations that Sharad Pawar was not the leader of the party or that the elections were faulty. "It is for the first time in 2023 that an allegation was levelled that the polls held in 2018 and subsequently at the lower level were flawed and so was the national convention," he told reporters as the hearing continued at the EC on Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar's claim on party name and symbol. He said his arguments will continue at the next hearing. He said those levelling allegations include Ajit Pawar and Praful Patel when it was Patel himself who had issued the notice under his sign calling the national convention. He