NCP rift spills into open as Sunetra Pawar’s election faces legal challenge

The simmering discontent within the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) spilled into the open on Monday, with a senior office-bearer mounting a legal challenge to Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar’s election as the party’s national president even as working president Praful Patel publicly called for “corrective measures” in the organisation’s functioning. The twin developments exposed fresh fault lines within the party months after former Deputy CM Ajit Pawar’s death.

National secretary Sachchidanand Singh has issued a legal notice to Sunetra Pawar, Praful Patel and the party’s national general secretary and election nodal officer Brijmohan Srivastava, challenging the organisational election process and seeking that Sunetra Pawar’s election be declared “illegal, non-existent and void”.

The developments come amid growing unease within a section of the party over its functioning after Ajit Pawar’s death, with some leaders privately expressing concern over what they describe as the increasing influence of Rajya Sabha MP Parth Pawar in organisational affairs.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Praful Patel acknowledged the challenges before the party. “It is difficult to fill in the vacuum created after the death of Ajit Pawar. The party needs to take corrective measures,” Patel said.

Although Patel did not refer to the legal notice or the organisational election, his remarks came on the same day that the challenge to Sunetra Pawar’s election became public, adding to unease within the party.

The legal notice, issued on July 9, alleges that party leadership violated the NCP constitution while electing Sunetra Pawar at the party’s national convention held in Mumbai on February 26. According to Singh, a meeting held on February 17 following Ajit Pawar’s demise had decided that Praful Patel would serve as interim national president. However, he alleges that the very next day, the process to elect a new national president was initiated without following procedures laid down in the party constitution.

Singh has alleged that the authority to convene a national convention and initiate the presidential election rested only with the authorised acting president and not with the general secretary. The notice further alleges that mandatory constitutional processes – including appointment of an independent election authority, publication of an election schedule, invitation of nominations and voting procedures – were bypassed.

The complainant also said that despite being an incumbent national secretary, he was neither formally informed about the convention nor given an opportunity to file his nomination or participate in the election process. He claimed he attended the convention in February and raised objections, but was ignored.

Singh currently serves as the party’s national secretary and heads the NCP’s Jharkhand unit, having been appointed to the post in October 2024.

The notice gives the party leadership 15 days to withdraw the documents submitted to the Election Commission, declare Sunetra Pawar’s election and the list of office-bearers void, constitute an independent central election authority and conduct fresh organisational elections in accordance with the party constitution.

It warns that if these demands are not met, Singh will approach both the courts and the Election Commission. The NCP did not immediately respond to queries seeking its response to the legal notice.

Discontent over Parth Pawar

Since his election to the Rajya Sabha in April, Parth Pawar has become increasingly influential in party affairs, calling the shots on behalf of his mother Sunetra and leading to discontent among several MLAs and office-bearers, NCP sources said.

A section in the NCP is also skeptical about the effectiveness of Parth Pawar as the party’s face, claiming he is reluctant to go out and interact with the public. Moreover, despite repeated assurances that the BJP will return the Finance portfolio, once held by Ajit Pawar, to the NCP, the party leadership has failed to secure the ministry. Both Sunetra and Parth met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi, where the issue was reportedly discussed.

NCP insiders also said that during the recently held Monsoon Session of the Assembly, the party did not hold a single meeting of the legislative party, nor did it present a unified face in the legislature while discussing important topics. Among the issues raised by leaders is the lack of communication from party chief Sunetra Pawar.

“The issues concerning MLAs are not limited to their constituency or funds. One of the key issues is that earlier, Ajit dada used to call the concerned officer from any department for our work. That no longer happens,” said a senior party leader.