The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leadership moved on Friday, 15 May to contain a deepening internal rift, with NCP President Sunetra Pawar reaching out to senior party veterans Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare to schedule a formal reconciliation meeting. The outreach, made alongside newly appointed General Secretary Parth Pawar and Treasurer Jay Pawar, signals an attempt to present a unified front after weeks of visible tension over the redistribution of organisational authority within the party.

What Triggered the Rift

The current discord stems from the reconstitution of the NCP National Executive, which saw veteran leaders — including Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare, Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse Patil, and Hasan Mushrif — excluded from the body, even as new faces were inducted. Though Patel, Tatkare, Bhujbal, and Walse Patil were later included in the newly constituted NCP National Working Committee, the exclusion from the National Executive has fuelled a sense of marginalisation among the party's senior guard.

Notably, Praful Patel — previously recognised as the party's National Working President — has been listed only as the NCP leader in the Rajya Sabha, with no mention of his working presidency. Similarly, Sunil Tatkare, who holds the position of Maharashtra NCP Chief, has been referred to solely as the NCP leader in the Lok Sabha, without acknowledgement of his state-unit designation.

The Pawar Family Factor

The tension is inseparable from the rapid elevation of Parth Pawar and Jay Pawar — sons of Sunetra Pawar — into core executive roles following the death of former party chief and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who died in a plane crash near Baramati on 28 January. Critics within the party have alleged a 'concentration of authority' within the Pawar family, a charge the leadership has sought to rebuff.

Earlier allegations had also surfaced that certain senior leaders had attempted to amend the party constitution to vest sweeping powers in the NCP Working President's office during the leadership vacuum in January — a claim that added to the atmosphere of mutual suspicion.

What the Proposed Meeting Will Address

According to senior NCP sources, the meeting — expected to take place early next week at the NCP headquarters in Mumbai — will focus on three core areas: defining the roles of the General Secretary and Treasurer so they do not overlap with the existing jurisdictions of Patel and Tatkare; aligning the party machinery for the upcoming local body polls; and strengthening the MahaYuti alliance. The meeting is also expected to address the opposition narrative of 'internal rift' being amplified by the rival Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) faction.

'The goal is collective leadership. Sunetra Pawar Wahini is committed to taking everyone along, and the involvement of Parth and Jay Pawar is about bringing fresh energy, not replacing experience,' a senior NCP functionary said.

Broader Context

The NCP has been navigating a turbulent transition since Ajit Pawar's death in the 28 January plane crash. Sunetra Pawar was elected party president in February, and the initial transition appeared orderly. However, the subsequent reorganisation of internal structures has exposed fault lines between the party's established leadership and the younger Pawar generation. A formal roadmap for the party's organisational structure is expected to be finalised at the upcoming meeting, with the outcome likely to determine whether the NCP can project cohesion ahead of local body elections.