New Delhi: Ahead of the Maharashtra assembly elections, the Sharad Pawar-led faction on Friday moved the Supreme Court seeking fresh election symbols for the two factions of the NCP.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the Sharad Pawar faction, said that he sought urgent listing of the matter in view of the assembly elections in Maharashtra, after which a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjwal Bhuyan listed the petition for hearing on September 25.

Singhvi said that until the matter is finally decided, both the factions of NCP should be given new election symbols before the assembly elections. Sharad Pawar has already filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the Election Commission's February 6 order recognising the faction led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar as the real NCP.

It is noteworthy that the Election Commission has allotted the NCP election symbol of a clock to the faction led by Ajit Pawar. Before the split of the NCP founded by Sharad Pawar, its election symbol was a clock.

OBC leader Ishwar Balbudhe joins NCP Sharad Pawar camp

In a major setback for the Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction, party's OBC leader Ishwar Balbudhe on Friday joined the Sharad Pawar-led opposition camp in Mumbai. Ishwar Balbudhe joined the party in the presence of Maharashtra NCP president Jayant Patil and NCP-SCP leader Anil Deshmukh.

Earlier on September 10, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Jayant Patil had claimed that Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar is now largely controlled by his advisors.