No clear second-rung leadership puts NCP at crossroads
Mumbai: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is facing a critical phase marked by the absence of a clear second-line leadership, raising serious questions about the party’s future direction and political relevance in Maharashtra.
Political observers point out that the Ajit Pawar-led faction of the NCP has remained heavily dependent on a single centre of power, with no alternative mass leader emerging within the organisation.
This lack of succession planning has become increasingly evident amid shifting political equations within the ruling Mahayuti alliance. The party, which retains the ‘clock’ symbol, has 41 MLAs in the Maharashtra Assembly and is part of the BJP-led coalition government.
However, beyond Ajit Pawar, there is no senior leader with comparable statewide influence or grassroots reach. This has led to uncertainty within the party ranks and speculation over future alignments.
Senior leaders such as Sunil Tatkare, the NCP state president, and Praful Patel, the party’s national working president, are seen as key organisational figures but lack the mass connect and electoral clout associated with Ajit Pawar.
Other senior leaders, including Chhagan Bhujbal, have remained politically inactive due to health and legal issues, further thinning the party’s leadership bench. Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra Pawar is currently a Rajya Sabha member, but she does not possess administrative experience or an established organisational base within the party.
Apart from her and Patel, the NCP has only one Lok Sabha MP, Sunil Tatkare, underscoring its limited parliamentary strength. The leadership vacuum has also reignited speculation about the future relationship between the Ajit Pawar-led NCP and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP).
In recent months, signs of improving ties between the two factions have been visible, including joint participation in select local body elections under the ‘clock’ symbol. Political analyst Prakash Akolkar told PTI that both factions contesting upcoming district council elections together indicates an “informal merger already underway.”
He added that the question is no longer about whether the factions will come together, but how power equations will be managed if they do. Within the ruling Mahayuti, the BJP remains the dominant force with 132 MLAs, followed by the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena with 57 legislators.
The NCP’s 41 MLAs, analysts say, could become politically vulnerable if internal cohesion weakens. Recent civic election results have also exposed the party’s limitations. While the NCP secured 167 seats across 29 municipal corporations when contesting independently, it performed poorly against the BJP in urban strongholds such as Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad.
As Maharashtra heads towards future electoral battles, the absence of a credible second-line leadership continues to cast a shadow over the NCP, leaving its cadre uncertain and its allies watchful.
