Missing big names in NCP office bearer list sets off fresh buzz over power shift in Pawar camp

Late on Monday night, Sunetra Pawar issued a clarification on X, saying the lists being circulated online contained “mistakes” and that corrections would be made soon.

The clarification, however, did little to stop speculation around a possible shift in the party’s internal power structure following the death of Ajit Pawar in an aircraft crash on January 28 this year. Since then, Sunetra Pawar has taken charge of both the party organisation and the Deputy Chief Minister’s post.

Over the past few months, there has been growing discussion within political circles about differences between the Pawar family and senior leaders such as Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare over the party’s organisational control and future direction.

MP Supriya Sule took a swipe at the development while recalling the importance leaders like Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare enjoyed in the undivided NCP under Sharad Pawar.

“This is their internal party matter. But when the two NCP factions were together, Praful Patel’s name would always come immediately after Pawar saheb’s. Sometimes our names may not have featured, but his place in the leadership was always fixed. First Pawar saheb, then Prafulbhai, then Tatkare, followed by leaders like us, Bhujbal, Walse Patil and Jayant Patil,” Sule said.

NCP (SP) leader Eknath Khadse was more direct. “Names are not omitted from such lists by mistake. They are included deliberately and removed deliberately too. There is no question of this happening accidentally,” he said.

Chhagan Bhujbal, meanwhile, reacted cautiously and avoided commenting extensively on the issue. “I will first have to look into it. I do not think it is appropriate to discuss internal party matters publicly,” he said.

This is not the first time signs of unease within the party have surfaced. On March 10, cracks within the NCP had become visible after Sunetra Pawar wrote to the Election Commission asking it to treat an earlier communication dated January 28, the day Ajit Pawar died, as “null and void”.

That move was widely interpreted as her disagreement with amendments to the party constitution submitted on February 16, which gave equal powers to the national president and the working president. Praful Patel currently holds the post of working president.

At the time, sections within the party viewed the constitutional amendments as an attempt by Patel to consolidate organisational control, while Sunetra Pawar’s communication to the Election Commission was seen as an effort to reassert authority over the party structure and curb the influence of senior leaders like Patel and Tatkare.

Neither Patel nor Tatkare commented on the controversy on Tuesday.