Both Factions Of NCP Claim There's No Split Or Dispute In Party

Senior leaders from both factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Tuesday said there was no split in the party.

The Election Commission has called both factions of the NCP for a personal hearing on October 6 following a petition filed by Ajit Pawar's faction that propped him as the party's elected national president.

"It is unfair on the part of the Election Commission of India to treat our case as a dispute within a political party when we have consistently maintained that there is no split," Jayant Patil, the Maharashtra unit chief of the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, said.

"Sharad Pawar in his letter to the ECI stressed the fact that he never faced any opposition within the party. There is no dispute. There has been no opposition to my policies from the party on any public platform," Mr Patil told reporters.

"Sharad Pawar also sought time from the ECI to explain his side because there was no dispute but there has been some exchange of emails (with Ajit Pawar's side). The ECI, without giving time to Sharad Pawar, concluded that there is a dispute," he added.

Asked about Mr Patil's comments, Chhagan Bhujbal, Maharashtra cabinet Minister and senior leader from the Ajit Pawar group, said, "It is good as there is no dispute in the party. Some changes have taken place, such as a change of national president... Ajit Pawar is now the party's president and we have already communicated this to the ECI." 

Ajit Pawar rebelled against his uncle Sharad Pawar's leadership in June this year and joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government in Maharashtra as Deputy Chief Minister.