Mumbai: Until the demise of Ajit Pawar in January this year, his elder son Parth was being seen as just another dynast trying to find his footing in a party led by his father. Parth came close to being written off in 2019 when he unsuccessfully contested a Lok Sabha seat, making him the first Pawar ever to lose an election.
Things have changed, however, in the last three months. Parth has firmly taken control of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), now led by his mother Sunetra Pawar. “For us, he was just another son of Ajit Dada. But now he is aggressive, and has taken a lead in leadership, which is good for the party,” said a young NCP legislator.
Parth’s working style has not gone down well with the seniors of the party. Holding meetings without necessarily informing and consulting senior party members, appointing young members, including his cousin and friends, to key posts, and speaking “arrogantly” to functionaries are among the reasons why seniors and many functionaries say they are upset with him.
Many legislators are worried about their future in the party, said functionaries who ThePrint met. “After Ajit Dada’s death, the reins of the party went to Sunetra Pawar. She was even made the national president of the party. However, it seems like Parth is running the entire show. And to my knowledge, this has put Sunetra Vahini (sister-in-law) in a Catch-22 situation,” a senior functionary of the party close to the leadership told ThePrint.
The latest flashpoint is a letter dated 29 April sent by Sunetra Pawar to the Election Commission of India, listing National Working President Praful Patel and Maharashtra State Unit Chief Sunil Tatkare as part of its 22-member national executive, but leaving their official organisational titles blank, and designating them as parliamentary group leaders.
The letter names Parth as National General Secretary, and Jay Pawar as National Secretary and head of the party’s disciplinary committee, thus formalising their induction into the party’s central structure.
Earlier, Ajit Pawar, Praful Patel and party treasurer Y.P. Trivedi were the authorised signatories.
This sent leaders rushing to the chief minister. Parth went first, meeting Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis last weekend; Sunil Tatkare met him late on Monday. They are believed to have discussed the internal conflict within the party.
“Chief Minister Fadnavis is intervening and trying to be a peacemaker in the NCP. Right now, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party would not want a split in the party. The BJP will try to keep them together for a while because they cannot afford a few of these members going back to Sharad Pawar. So they will act at the right moment,” political analyst Abhay Deshpande told ThePrint.
The fat went truly into the fire when Patel and Tatkare met NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader Sharad Pawar at his residence last week, news confirmed by Pawar Senior himself to the media. Surprisingly, Sharad Pawar praised the leaders, saying he has seen their capabilities and the responsibilities they have handled.
“Although they told the media that the visit was a courtesy visit to inquire about Pawar’s health, I feel it was also a strong political message to the leadership. They also expressed their unhappiness and how they are being treated,” a senior party leader told ThePrint.
Sources within the party told ThePrint that this is an attempt to sideline the senior leaders. “This is not the first time this has happened. Earlier in March too, a letter to the Election Commission said that any correspondence from the time of death of Ajit Dada till Sunetra Pawar became the national president should be considered null and void. Even then it was called a mistake. But how come a mistake is repeated? That what is repeated is not a mistake but a deliberate attempt,” one NCP functionary told ThePrint.
Turbulence within the party emerged after the tragic death of Ajit Pawar on 28 January in a plane crash at Baramati. Since then, his wife Sunetra Pawar has taken his place as deputy chief minister of the state as well as national president of NCP. After assuming the role of the national president, Sunetra and her two sons—Parth and Jay—started tightening their hold over the party, which led to friction between her family and senior leadership, particularly parliamentarians Sunil Tatkare and Praful Patel.
On Wednesday, Sharad Pawar held a strategy meeting with his party’s legislators and workers, later clarifying his party’s position and saying that there was no question of merger with the other NCP.
Shashikant Shinde, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) state president told the media: “Merger is out of the equation now. Also, from other NCP, nobody has approached us yet. But if their legislators approach us, we will definitely consider it.”
Senior NCP leaders Chhagan Bhujbal and Dilip Walse Patil also addressed the media on Wednesday after inducting Pabodh Davkhare, son of senior NCP leader Vasant Davkhare, into the party. Speaking about the party’s internal conflict, they said that they have full faith in Sunetra Pawar.
“We had a meeting with Sunil Tatkare, Sunetra Pawar, Parth for over an hour. We had a good discussion. Why are you adding fuel to the fire? There is no problem,” Bhujbal said.
ThePrint tried to reach Suraj Chavan, official spokesperson of the party, for a comment, but calls and messages remained unanswered.
Also Read: NCP shows signs of unease under Sunetra Pawar. Leader’s exit triggers fear of wave of resignations
Parth the new boss?
After his Lok Sabha disaster of 2019, Parth Pawar kept a low profile, sporadically emerging with controversial statements here and there. It’s evident now that Ajit Pawar had kept him away from active administration of the party.
“Parth’s political ambitions are quite known. Since he lost his election, he tried to work around in the party but was kept behind by Ajit Pawar. However, now the case is different,” said Deshpande.
In the new regime headed by his mother, Parth has become a voice too powerful to ignore. As soon as she took over, Sunetra pushed Parth into active politics, with the party nominating him for the Rajya Sabha, a seat he won unopposed in March.
Parth’s responsibilities began growing. He commenced field visits and organisational meetings with party members in the Pawar stronghold of Baramati. In a leaf right out of Ajit Pawar’s book, Parth has been holding meetings with party workers and functionaries in Baramati to take stock of local works.
For instance, in February Parth visited Baramati unannounced to inspect various development works. He inspected the high-profile Shivsrushti project, a theme park on Shivaji, launched by Ajit Pawar in January last year. A Rs 650-crore project, Shivrushti is expected to boost tourism.
Parth was also actively involved in campaigning for Sunetra Pawar’s Baramati bypoll election. He was on the ground, rallying support for his mother where he urged voters to vote in record numbers for her. He addressed local rallies, and toured local sectors to garner support. Sunetra won the contest by over a lakh votes.
Earlier in February, he was at the meeting of the Vidya Pratisthan in Baramati along with Sharad Pawar, where the senior Pawar discussed workings of the Pratisthan with Parth and Jay. Parth also remains involved in holding meetings with Mahayuti leaders about Zila Parishad elections as well .
The makeover is in tandem with the takeover. Parth has started wearing glasses and the famous pink jacket of Ajit Pawar. “He is quite aggressively working on topics related to the Centre, state and also within the party. He is actively participating and there a sudden shift in his behaviour. He is playing a major role with (Sunetra) Vahini to take up Dada’s position,” the young legislator said.
The latest move is the list of office-bearers sent to the Election Commission, an exercise that has Parth all over it. Half of those in the list are close to him. For instance Avinash Adik, the national secretary is the son of the influential Govindrao Adik. Others include Sana Malik, Dhiraj Sharma, and Abhishek Bokey. Abhishek Bokey is Parth’s cousin, and a trusted aide. Dhiraj Sharma, national president of the NCP youth wing, is also close to Parth Pawar.
“Parth Pawar is now firmly establishing his position within the party and he wants to build his own team going forward. For the upcoming elections in 2029, he wants to have his own people and he will probably be the authority to distribute tickets,” political analyst Hemant Desai told ThePrint. “However, his personality is very arrogant and not like someone who would mix with people like Ajit Pawar. But he wants to create an image of his own as well,” Desai added.
Earlier this week, Sunetra and Parth Pawar held a meeting with political strategist Prashant Kishore, who is expected to handle the party’s campaign in the 2029 elections. Parth called this meeting a “courtesy”, but nobody missed the parallel with how he was instrumental in bringing political strategist Naresh Arora of DesignBoxed to work with the NCP during the 2024 elections. Arora’s association with the party was eventually discontinued.
The leader close to Parth Pawar also said that after Ajit Pawar’s death, Tatkare and Patel seemed to be tightening their hold over the party, which Sunetra sensed, an allegation that has been made in public by rival legislator Rohit Pawar.
Explaining this, the leader said that on 16 February, Patel and Tatkare wrote to the Election Commission, saying that the NCP constitution was amended to give equal powers to the working president, which is why Sunetra Pawar shot off another letter to the poll panel in March after becoming national president.
Rohit Pawar made the same allegations at a press meet. “Neither Sunetra Pawar nor (her elder son) Parth Pawar was taken into confidence. After becoming national president, Sunetra Pawar appeared to have learnt of this, and wrote to the ECI requesting that any correspondence between 28 January and her assuming charge should not be considered,” he said.
Parth Pawar is slowly but surely coming into his own. “He seems to be not listening to Sunetra Pawar as well. Being a son of Ajit and Sunetra Pawar, we respect him. But there are senior party leaders who have not even worked with Ajit Dada but also with Sharad Pawar Saheb. And by sidelining them, he is trying to undermine their experience, which is needed for the party,” the senior party leader said.
“That is why there is discontent within the party; we have already seen one resignation this week. And if Patel or Tatkare quit, everyone, especially the legislators, will worry about the future,” the leader added.
Deshpande said that the unease among senior leaders is palpable and they feel that it is better to follow Pawar Senior instead of Parth, if at all anyone has to be followed. “But I don’t think anyone will leave the party just yet because right now they are a part of the Mahayuti government,” he said.
(Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya)