The NCP or Nationalist Congress Party was founded in 1999 by Sharad Pawar after he quit the Indian National Congress (INC) along with Purno Sangma and Tariq Anwar. While the NCP started as a national party with values of ‘Gandhian secularism’ and ‘progressive and modern progress’, its biggest electoral success has been in Maharashtra, Pawar’s home state. In 2023, the Election Commission withdrew the party’s status as a ‘national party’ as the NCP could no longer meet the criteria of such a designation.
As of 2024, the party is split into two factions — one led by founder Sharad Pawar and another by his nephew Ajit Pawar. The faction led by Ajit is in power in Maharashtra along with the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde). This faction today is knonw as the Nationalist Congress Party, having been granted the original party name and symbol by the Supreme Court. The other faction is called the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar). Other important leaders include Jayant Patil, Supriya Sule, and Rajesh Tope.
Unclear what remains to be damaged nationally for a party that has failed to qualify for LoP status in two successive general elections. To climb back into the power arena, it needs each ounce of strength that it can generate. Maharashtra – even one third of it – was a prize fate had placed before it on a platter. 2. Although morality is not a virtue associated with politics, if the Congress had an ideological reservation about allying with the Shiv Sena, it should have sent a quiet message to Matoshree, a favour UT would have filed away in his memory. That would have prevented him from taking such an obdurate stand with his senior partner. 3. The Gandhi family continues to prove that it is no longer an asset for the Congress party.
Congress needs to go for the sake of our country.