Reports of tension inside Maharashtra’s Nationalist Congress Party intensified in May 2026 as Parth Pawar took a more assertive organizational role under his mother, party president Sunetra Pawar. Senior figures reportedly objected to his meeting style and appointments, leaving Sunetra caught between her son’s ambitions and experienced leaders after Ajit Pawar’s death.
A sudden succession after Ajit Pawar
Ajit Pawar died in a plane crash at Baramati on January 28, 2026. His death removed the dominant leader of the NCP faction allied with the Bharatiya Janata Party in Maharashtra’s governing coalition. Sunetra Pawar subsequently became national president, while Parth and his brother Jay entered the central structure.
Parth had previously struggled to establish an electoral base, losing the Maval Lok Sabha constituency in 2019. Supporters said he became energetic and decisive after his father’s death. Critics within the party described him as bypassing consultation, elevating relatives and younger associates and speaking dismissively to veteran functionaries.
The Election Commission letter
An April 29 letter signed by Sunetra and sent to the Election Commission listed a 22-member national executive. It named Parth national general secretary and Jay national secretary and head of the disciplinary committee. Praful Patel and Maharashtra unit chief Sunil Tatkare appeared in the list but without the organizational titles by which they were publicly known, while being designated parliamentary-group leaders.
Party sources interpreted those omissions as an attempt to reduce the veterans’ standing. Others could regard them as drafting or filing issues. The document establishes what was communicated to the Commission; it does not by itself reveal the intention behind each blank title.
Why Sunetra faced a “catch-22”
Backing Parth too strongly could alienate legislators and organizers whose experience holds the faction together. Restraining him could create a family confrontation and weaken the succession narrative after Ajit Pawar. Anonymous comments described this as an unenviable choice, but Sunetra’s own public assessment should not be inferred from unnamed sources.
Patel and Tatkare met Sharad Pawar and described the encounter as a courtesy call concerning his health. Because Sharad Pawar leads the rival NCP faction, the meeting was also read as a warning that dissatisfied leaders retained other relationships. A courtesy meeting is not evidence that a defection agreement existed.
The coalition has an interest in stability
Parth and Tatkare separately met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis as tensions rose. Analysts said the BJP would prefer to avoid an NCP split that could send legislators toward Sharad Pawar. A coalition partner can mediate, but internal party offices and authorized-signatory rules ultimately require the NCP’s own valid decisions.
How to assess the reported cracks
Internal politics is often reported through anonymous officials because public criticism can carry consequences. That makes documents, appointments, attendance records and on-record responses especially important. Assertions about arrogance, exclusion or secret motives should remain attributed rather than presented as established fact.
The underlying governance questions are clear: who is authorized to decide, whether the executive was constituted under party rules and how legislators participate. Family lineage may influence politics, but it cannot substitute for organizational legitimacy or electoral support.
Parth’s rise changed the NCP’s balance after a traumatic succession. Whether it becomes generational renewal or a damaging centralization will be shown by transparent decisions, retention of senior leaders and performance in elections—not solely by factional accounts from one contentious month.
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