BJP misusing EC for power: Sharad Pawar

Kolhapur, Feb 21  Nationalist Congress Party (NCP-Sharadchandra) chief Sharad Pawar on Wednesday accused the BJP of misusing power with the help of the Election Commission (EC) and claimed that Congress leader Ashok Chavan joined the saffron party as his name figured in the government white paper presented in parliament recently.
Addressing a media conference here, Pawar came down heavily on the EC for its decision to hand over the party's symbol and name to the Ajit Pawar faction, even though he himself had founded the party (NCP).
"Even though I founded the NCP party, EC handed over the party to a rival group with a party symbol, and this was a total misuse of power. All opposition party leaders have already sent a letter to the EC to make the anti-defection law competent," said the octogenarian leader.
Pawar claimed everybody was surprised when former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan crossed over to the BJP. "But Chavan took this decision as in a white paper of the BJP, there were two names - of Ashok Chavan and Adarsh society scam. Possibly, he felt a threat from the BJP".
He said the I.N.D.I.A bloc has not held any meeting of late as there were some differences between some alliance partners. "But it is expected that all partners of I.N.D.I.A would work unitedly even though there was no consistency in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. The Indian Front leaders will discuss this issue soon."
On speculations of the merger of NCP (Sharadchandra) with Congress, Pawar said, "There is no necessity of a merger with Congress as our three alliance partners, Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (Sharad), and Congress, are working together and there are no differences among these three parties."
Pawar said the ongoing Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will have an effect on the coming Lok Sabha election. He recalled when the first phase of Gandhi's outreach campaign - Bharat Jodi Yatra - concluded, the Congress won the Karnataka assembly election.
Pawar expressed happiness over the Supreme Court's decision on the Mayor election in Chandigarh. "Our law system is still reliable in the country".
Pawar said that his party would field candidates outside of the state in the coming general election, including in Lakshadweep and Andaman.