Ajit faction is the real NCP, says Tatkare
Sunil Tatkare, from the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP, claims there is no rival faction or split in the party and theirs is the real NCP. The Sharad Pawar faction counters that Ajit Pawar's appointment as national president was made after the split and against the party's constitution. The factions presented their arguments during the NCP disqualification hearing.
Sunil Tatkare, MP from the Ajit Pawar faction, on Thursday reiterated his group’s stand that there was no emergence of a rival faction or split in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and theirs was the real party. Sharad Pawar was not elected as the party’s national president but was reappointed in 2022, he said.
Countering his claims, the Sharad Pawar faction said Ajit Pawar’s appointment as national president was made after the split and the resolution passed days before it was against the party’s constitution. The camp also claimed the act of such an appointment and passing of a resolution in the meeting held before the split attracted disqualification under the 10th schedule of the constitution.
On the third day of the cross-examination in the NCP disqualification hearing before assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar, Tatkare was grilled by the Sharad Pawar faction’s counsel Sharan Jagtiani. The hearing was attended by Sharad Pawar, MP Supriya Sule, her daughter Revati Sule, Pawar’s grand-nephew Rohit Pawar, and other leaders from the camp.
The Ajit Pawar faction has in their affidavits said there were no elections held to appoint the office bearers at the state and national level. The documents also claimed the party was run in an autocratic way and theirs was the real NCP. The faction also asserted the appointment of Ajit Pawar as the party’s national president, as resolved in a meeting held on July 5, 2023, to replace Sharad Pawar.
To press their stand, Tatkare said he was the only elected state president in the recent past and his successor Jayant Patil was appointed to the post in 2018.
“The assertion comes on the lines of the mandate set by the speaker for hearing. Tatkare’s claim that there was no emergence of a rival faction is an attempt to show they did not indulge in anti-party activities and hence do not attract the anti-defection law. Tatkare said the NCP had joined hands with the BJP in 2019 and thus attempted to establish that they did not break the party,” a leader from the Ajit Pawar faction said.
Jagtiani, however, rubbished the rebel camp’s claims and to prove his point, produced videos and social media posts by Tatkare. In the posts Tatkare had praised the leadership of Sharad Pawar and on May 2 and 3 last year had requested Sharad Pawar to withdraw his resolution of resigning from the post of national president.
Jagtiani also questioned why Tatkare did not object to the appointment of Jayant Patil as state unit president and the election form issued by Patil if he thought Patil taking post was without following due process as per the party’s constitution. The counsel also pointed out that Tatkare’s appointment as national general secretary done in 2022 was similar to the way Sharad Pawar was appointed as national president.
The Sharad Pawar faction claimed the resolution by the rebel faction to walk out of the party was never passed on June 30, 2025, and the documents submitted to that respect were fabricated. They also contested Ajit Pawar’s claim of having been appointed national president, saying no such meeting was held. Convening such a meeting was against the party’s constitution and all these acts lead to the disqualification, the faction’s counsel said.
Jagtiani also claimed it was not the emergence of a rival faction within the party, but it was an anti-party activity by a few MLAs.
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