MUMBAI: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sunetra Pawar has inducted her sons Parth, 36, and Jay, 29, into the core group of office bearers. A signed list of 13 key party functionaries was sent to the Election Commission of India (ECI) on April 29. However, missing from this list were names of NCP veterans such as Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse-Patil, Sunil Tatkare, Dhananjay Munde, Hasan Mushrif, and others.
As word got out on Tuesday and insiders began speculating about the omissions, the party chief quickly intervened to characterise the exclusions as a clerical error. In a post on X, she wrote: “A list of office bearers of the NCP circulating in the media has a clerical mistake and will be corrected soon.”
All parties must send a list of key functionaries to the ECI.
Top of the list of 13 is Sunetra Pawar herself as the national president, followed by Shivajirao Garje as treasurer, two general secretaries including her elder son Parth, eight national secretaries including her younger son Jay and a national president (youth).
While Parth has been named the party’s coordinator, placing him at the centre of organizational strategy and communication between all units, Jay will head the national disciplinary committee in addition to treasury-related responsibilities. The committee also includes several second-rung leaders assigned portfolios – ranging from youth affairs and minority outreach to technology, welfare for farmers, employment and cultural activities.
However, amid the controversy, Sunetra’s office clarified to HT that the initial 13-member list consisted of office bearers, whereas the national working committee comprising 22 leaders, includes many seniors such as Tatkare, Bhujbal, Walse-Patil and Manikrao Kokate. A close look at the list, however, indicates that none of them have been given any position.
The well-salted seniors played key roles in helping Ajit Pawar engineer a split in the composite NCP, helmed by Sharad Pawar, in July 2023, and are also a part of the party’s core committee.
As the party is in the midst of rebuilding its organisational structure, following the death of Ajit Pawar in a plane crash on January 28, insiders HT spoke to fear that experienced voices are being pushed out; a first since the party’s inception, they said. “Even (Sharad) Pawar saheb never insulted the senior leaders like it. He used to take everyone along,” confided a senior functionary, wishing anonymity. The leaders also claim the appointments reinforce perceptions of increasing dynastic control within the party.
Another senior leader shared that in the core committee meeting last month to decide the party’s candidate for the legislative council elections, Parth declared that the decision should rest with the party president – a shift from the routine practice of leaders naming candidates. “As Parth requested everyone to authorise party president Sunetra Pawar to take the final call on the candidate, no one could refuse, and Zeeshan Siddique’s name was declared,” the leader said.
Reacting to the controversy, Bhujbal told reporters, “There are certain matters I would prefer not to discuss openly, as they are internal.”
Later in the evening, state NCP president Sunil Tatkare spoke to the media after calling on NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar at his Silver Oak residence. Dismissing speculation about the new list of appointments, he said: “It has nothing to do with the executive committee appointments. Sunetra Vahini (Pawar) has already clarified the matter, so I have nothing more to add.”
Earlier in the morning, Tatkare had accompanied Sunetra along with party working president Praful Patel and Parth, to Guwahati for the swearing-in ceremony of Assam chief minister Hemant Biswa Sarma.
