Sunetra Pawar vs old guard: Why NCP totters as first family cuts Praful, Tatkare down to size

Other senior NCP leaders like Chhagan Bhujbal and Dilip Walse Patil also do not feature in the 12-member office-bearers’ list, which name Sunetra’s two sons, Rajya Sabha MP Parth Pawar and Jay Pawar, as a national general secretary and a national secretary respectively.

The names of Patel and Tatkare appear in a separate list of 22 members of the NCP Working Committee, but even this do not specify their designations.

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

It is however evident that Sunetra Pawar and her two sons have stamped their authority all over the lists. No senior NCP leader, who has been associated with the party since its inception in 1999 (when Sharad Pawar founded the NCP after walking out of the Congress) seemed to have make it to their circle of trusted aides, and none was named as a national office-bearer.

The snubbing of Patel and Tatkare is being seen in NCP circles as an attempt by Sunetra to

sharpen the message that even after the demise of her husband Ajit Pawar, her family would continue to dominate the party and that their authority cannot be questioned. “Her message is very clear. Either you work for as told or you don’t work at all,” said an NCP MLA.

Rising tensions

Rejigging the NCP office-bearers, Sunetra named MLC Shivajirao Garje and Jay Pawar as the party treasurers. Several virtually unknown party leaders from Delhi were inducted as national office-bearers. Some relatives of the Pawar family, such as Abhishek Bokey and Avinash Adik, were also picked as national secretaries.

“The roots of the crisis are found in the developments after the sudden demise of Ajit Pawar in a plane crash, which had created an impression that Patel-Tatkare had attempted a hostile takeover of the NCP,” a party functionary said, referring to a meeting of veteran party leaders on the eve of Sunetra’s swearing-in as the Deputy CM on 31 January. “It was perceived as a coup against her after Ajit Dada’s departure ,” he said.

Another development took place on February 16, when the Patel-Tatkare faction reportedly submitted an “amended NCP constitution” to the EC, giving equal powers to the party national president and the working president.

To counter it, Sunetra shot off a letter to the EC to not consider any communication sent to the poll body by the party between January 28 — the day of Ajit Pawar’s death — and February 26 — when she took charge as the NCP president. This move widened the rifts within the NCP leadership.

Rise of Parth Pawar

Parth, 36, is widely seen in NCP circles as the leader who is now calling the shots in the party affairs. NCP sources said that he has virtually become the “final authority on organisational matters” now. He has his own team comprising of young leaders, professionals and lawyers. He recently showed his authority while choosing a young newcomer Zeeshan Siddiqui as the NCP’s candidate for the Legislative Council polls.

Also, in what could be seen as the Pawar family’s preparations for the 2029 Assembly polls, Jay has started holding a “janta darbar” every Thursday in Baramati, their home turf, from where Sunetra recently won by a record margin in an Assembly bypoll.

Confusion within party

The Patel-Tatkare camp has maintained that their various recent actions were never against the Sunetra Pawar family, but to counter the narrative of a merger allegedly spread by the rival NCP(SP) faction led by Sharad Pawar. “From the day of Ajit Pawar’s death, they (NCP-SP) started claiming that the merger was about to happen. That would have snatched the party from the hands of Sunetra Pawar. We did what we thought was in the best interests of the party,” a leader close to Tatkare told The Indian Express.

The tensions between the top NCP leaders from the two camps have created confusion and doubts in the minds of party legislators as well as its rank and file. Seizing on it, NCP (SP) leader Rohit Pawar claimed that Patel-Tatkare would join the BJP with their 22 MLAs ahead of the 2029 polls. This claim has been denied by both Tatkare and the BJP.

Amid this uncertainty, NCP leader Anand Paranjpe quit the party Thursday to join ally Shiv Sena led by Deputy CM Eknath Shinde. The NCP is currently operating without several key functionaries such as the party’s Mumbai unit chief or its state presidents of the youth and women wings. It has not been able to bargain for a heavyweight portfolio like Finance from the BJP for Sunetra, which Ajit Pawar used to hold.

“There are multiple challenges. During Ajit Pawar’s time, he stood like a rock behind all workers and legislators. He was a great comfort for us. That is missing today. If the ongoing tensions do not recede, the discontent within the party’s lower ranks will start coming out. Both sides must take a note of it immediately,” said an NCP MLA.