Will accept the final decision of Election Commission on NCP name and symbol: Ajit Pawar
Pune (PTI): Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Monday said he would accept the "final" decision of the Election Commission of India regarding the NCP's name and poll symbol, in view of the claims submitted by the factions led by him and Sharad Pawar.
He was speaking to reporters in Pune on the sidelines of his visit to various pandals of Lord Ganesh.
Ajit Pawar had led eight MLAs to join the Shiv Sena-BJP government in Maharashtra in July. He had claimed the support of a majority of MLAs of NCP, founded by his uncle Sharad Pawar, and staked claim to the party name and symbol in the ECI.
The Sharad Pawar faction had challenged the Ajit Pawar faction's move in the poll body and the decision is pending.
Asked about the Sharad Pawar faction taking action against MLAs who are joining his group, Ajit Pawar said they can exercise their rights.
"However, it is the Elections Commission (EC) which makes a final decision. Both sides have gone to the ECI and everyone will put forth their stand on the given dates. As far as I am concerned, I will accept the final decision of the ECI," he said.
Asked about his assessment on the possibility of 16 MLAs (of Shiv Sena) being disqualified by the Maharashtra speaker and the chances of replacing the chief minister, he said all these reports have no meaning.
"Such reports have been doing the rounds since the day Eknath Shinde became the chief minister (in June 2022). All these reports are meaningless," Ajit Pawar added.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
