Daijiworld Media Network – Mumbai

Mumbai, May 13: Fresh signs of internal unease surfaced within the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Tuesday after several senior leaders, including Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare, Chhagan Bhujbal and Dilip Walse Patil, were excluded from the party’s 12-member national office-bearers list submitted to the Election Commission.

The development triggered speculation over shifting power equations within the Sunetra Pawar-led party and intensified further after Tatkare met NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar at his Silver Oak residence in Mumbai later in the day.

Tatkare, however, dismissed political interpretations surrounding the meeting and said he had only visited to inquire about Sharad Pawar’s health.

The list, dated April 29 and circulated widely on social media over the past two days, names Sunetra Pawar as the party’s national president. Her sons, Parth Pawar and Jay Pawar, have been appointed general secretary and national secretary respectively.

While the names of Patel, Tatkare, Bhujbal and Walse Patil feature in the party’s 22-member national working committee, their absence from the core office-bearers list has fuelled discussions about internal tensions and organisational restructuring within the party.

Late on Monday night, Sunetra Pawar issued a clarification on X, stating that the lists circulating online contained “mistakes” and that corrections would be made soon. However, the clarification failed to stop speculation over a possible shift in control within the party following the death of former NCP chief Ajit Pawar in an aircraft crash on January 28 this year.

Since Ajit Pawar’s death, Sunetra Pawar has assumed leadership of both the party organisation and the Deputy Chief Minister’s post.

Political circles have increasingly discussed differences between the Pawar family and senior leaders such as Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare over organisational control and the future direction of the party.

NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule indirectly criticised the developments, recalling the importance senior leaders held in the undivided NCP under Sharad Pawar’s leadership.

“When the two NCP factions were together, Praful Patel’s name would always come immediately after Pawar saheb’s. Sometimes our names may not feature, but his place in the leadership was always fixed,” Sule said.

NCP (SP) leader Eknath Khadse also questioned the explanation of “mistakes” in the list.

“Names are not omitted from such lists accidentally. They are included deliberately and removed deliberately,” Khadse remarked.

Chhagan Bhujbal chose to react cautiously, stating that he did not consider it appropriate to discuss internal party matters publicly.

The controversy has also revived discussions over earlier tensions within the party. In March, Sunetra Pawar had reportedly written to the Election Commission asking it to treat a January 28 communication as “null and void”, a move seen as linked to internal disagreements over amendments to the party constitution that granted equal powers to the national president and working president, a post currently held by Praful Patel.

Sections within the party had interpreted those constitutional changes as an attempt by Patel to strengthen organisational control, while Sunetra Pawar’s intervention was viewed as an effort to reassert authority over the party structure.

Neither Praful Patel nor Sunil Tatkare commented publicly on Tuesday’s developments. However, both leaders were recently seen alongside Sunetra Pawar in Guwahati during the swearing-in ceremony of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

Speaking after meeting Sharad Pawar, Tatkare insisted there was “absolutely no political discussion” and denied any connection between the visit and the controversy over the national executive list.

“The work we are doing under the leadership of Sunetra Pawar will continue,” he said.

The latest developments have further highlighted the growing divide between the younger Pawar leadership and the NCP’s senior leaders, many of whom were considered close associates of the late Ajit Pawar.

Sources within political circles indicate that Sunetra Pawar’s increasing reliance on her sons Parth and Jay for key organisational decisions has caused discomfort among sections of the party’s old guard, particularly leaders like Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare, who are viewed as experienced organisational strategists within the NCP.