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A day after the Election Commission recognised the Ajit Pawar faction as the real Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Sharad Pawar faction put up a banner supporting the senior Pawar.
'Chinha tumhara, baap hamara, (Symbol is yours, the father is ours)," says the banner outside NCP's office in Mumbai referreing the Sharad Pawar as the father figure of the party.
In a major setback to party founder Sharad Pawar, the Election Commission of India also allotted the NCP symbol 'Wall Clock' to the group led by Ajit Pawar.
NCP MP and Sharad Pawar's daughter, Supriya Sule dubbed the ECI's decision as a "victory of invisible power" and a conspiracy against Maharashtra and Marathi people.
She also drew a parallel between the ECI's ruling in the Shiv Sena (undivided) case, referring to the poll body acknowledging the Eknath Shinde-led group as the real Sena after he rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray in 2022.
"Both parties (the NCP and undivided Shiv Sena) were born in Maharashtra and led by Marathi people. This is one more example of how the invisible powers make decisions that would hurt the Marathi people and the state," said Sule.
She said the "conspiracy" hatched against the late Bal Thackeray's family is now replicated against Sharad Pawar.
Ajit Pawar had walked away with a majority of NCP MLAs in July last year and supported the BJP-Shiv Sena government led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in Maharashtra.
He had submitted the petition with the EC two days before he and eight other MLAs took oath as ministers in the Shinde government.
The EC's decision comes days ahead of the retirement of Election Commissioner Anup Chandra Pandey. Since it is a quasi judicial order, it has to be signed by all the three members of the commission.
"The test of majority in the legislative wing found favour in this circumstance of the case, where both groups have found to be working outside the party constitution and the organisational elections," the poll authority observed.
The EC made a concession to the group led by Sharad Pawar by allowing it a "one-time option" to claim a name for its political outfit and provide three preferences by Wednesday afternoon in view of the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections.