MUMBAI — Senior leaders of the Nationalist Congress Party expressed discontent over the party's functioning in a core committee meeting called by Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar on Monday, following a day of meetings with Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The developments began on Sunday evening, November 1, when six NCP leaders — Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare, Chhagan Bhujbal, Dhananjay Munde, Hasan Mushrif and Dilip Walse Patil — met Shah without Sunetra Pawar and Parth Pawar present. The leaders conveyed their unhappiness with the party's functioning under the national president and her son, according to party sources. Amit Shah was already aware of the issues, sources said, and his message to the leaders was reported to be: "Mend your ways, improve your party."
The meeting with Shah focused on what sources described as authoritarian-style functioning and the exclusion of senior leaders from key decisions. The discussion occurred against the backdrop of the NCP's poor performance in the recent Maharashtra Legislative Council elections, in which NCP-SP won two seats while the NCP won none. Some leaders had called for introspection following those results.
On Monday, November 2, a three-hour core committee meeting was held at Sunetra Pawar's residence. Committee members voiced their disagreements openly, sources said. Sunil Tatkare, who attended both the Shah meeting and the core committee session, denied reports of differences within the party but referenced the organizational structure established under Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar, emphasizing collective leadership and decision-making processes.
"We have all worked under Sharad Pawar and later under Ajit Pawar. We have seen a particular working style and followed an organisational structure. We have believed in collective leadership, and have followed a process to take decisions," Tatkare said at a brief interaction with reporters after the meeting.
The developments come after Ajit Pawar's sudden death earlier this year in a helicopter crash. Following his demise, his son Parth Pawar, a political novice, had unofficially taken the reins of the party, a move that has caused resentment and bad blood among senior leaders who have been excluded from key decisions.
"If they don't change their way of functioning, the senior party leaders are considering charting their own way," a senior NCP leader told The Hindu. "They are not left with much of a choice, considering the unilateral decisions being taken in the party, which are completely authoritarian in nature. None of the senior leaders have been consulted for any important decision. They are unhappy about it."
The NCP sought to downplay the significance of the developments. National spokesperson Umesh Patil termed media reports of differences within the party as mischievous, noting that Sunetra Pawar had herself informed Shah a few days earlier that a delegation of senior leaders would be meeting him.
The party has called a meeting of all elected representatives for Tuesday, November 3, to discuss the issues that party leaders and cadres should focus on.
The recent legislative council election results, in which the NCP lost ground to NCP-SP, form the background of the latest political developments in Maharashtra.
