Why is the name of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP-SP) supremo Sharad Pawar being repeatedly used in online content put up by Ajit Pawar-led NCP, the Supreme Court asked on Wednesday amidst heated ongoing campaigning in Maharashtra for the upcoming Assembly polls [Sharad Pawar v. Ajit Anantrao Pawar and anr.

A Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan remarked that both the factions should focus on their side of battlefield. It emphasised that voters are wise enough to see through any confusions. The Court commented that Ajit Pawar-led faction should not depend on Sharad Pawar's name in the election fight.

"You try to stand up on your own legs, now that you have ideological difference with Sharad Pawar," it remarked.

The top court had earlier directed the Ajit Pawar-led faction to add a disclaimer in its election ads clarifying that the use of clock symbol was subject to the outcome in the legal proceedings with the Sharad Pawar-led faction over the ownership of the party symbol. During the previous hearing, the Ajit Pawar faction had said it would publish fresh Marathi disclaimers in newspapers regarding use of clock symbol for the upcoming Maharashtra assembly polls.

It is Sharad Pawar's case that the Ajit Pawar faction has engineered 'large scale confusion' in the minds of voters by using the clock symbol without any disclaimer.

Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi with Advocate Pranjal Agarwal, representing the Sharad Pawar-led function, submitted today that Ajit-Pawar led faction was continuing to piggybank on the veteran leader's goodwill. Singhvi said that Ajit Pawar faction was not complying with the apex court order.