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Correspondent

21 August 2024 at 10:20:16 am

Kaleidoscope

Fishermen spread out a net with dark clouds hovering in the backdrop in Mumbai on Thursday. Devotees carry holy water of River Ganga as they wait in queues to offer prayers on the occasion of 'Nikashi Puja' festival at Vindhyachal Dham in Mirzapur on Friday. A view of the Earth from NASA's Orion spacecraft as it orbits above the planet during the Artemis II test flight on Thursday. A devotee raises a lit flambeau during the old torch festival in Kashmir, known as Zool or Frow, on Aishmuqam...

Kaleidoscope

Fishermen spread out a net with dark clouds hovering in the backdrop in Mumbai on Thursday. Devotees carry holy water of River Ganga as they wait in queues to offer prayers on the occasion of 'Nikashi Puja' festival at Vindhyachal Dham in Mirzapur on Friday. A view of the Earth from NASA's Orion spacecraft as it orbits above the planet during the Artemis II test flight on Thursday. A devotee raises a lit flambeau during the old torch festival in Kashmir, known as Zool or Frow, on Aishmuqam hills near the Shrine of Hazrat Zain-ud-Din Wali in Anantnag on Thursday. People from the Christian community during a procession on the occasion of Good Friday in Amritsar on Friday.

From ‘outsider’ to absolute authority

Sunetra Pawar’s bold power play has shaken NCP foundation

Mumbai: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is currently undergoing a seismic shift in its internal hierarchy, signaling the birth of a more centralised and family-driven leadership. In a high-stakes move that has surprised political observers, Deputy Chief Minister and National President Sunetra Pawar has decisively asserted her control over the party all the while putting an end to the speculations over merger.


By sidelining veteran power brokers like Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare, Sunetra has made it clear that the era of collective leadership has been replaced by a singular authority centered around her. This transition marks the most significant reorganisation of the party since the tragic and accidental death of its former president, Ajit Pawar, in a plane crash earlier this year.


The defining moment of this assertion of power came through a sensational letter sent by Sunetra Pawar to the Election Commission of India. In this document, she requested the Commission to consider any party correspondence made between January 28 and her appointment as president on February 26 as null and void. This legal maneuver is widely interpreted as a direct strike against the senior guard. Notably, the letter designates Sunetra Pawar as the sole ‘National President’ and completely omits the previously recognised titles of Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare. By failing to mention their roles as National Executive President and State President, Sunetra has effectively neutralised their organisational authority. This move suggests that the administrative reins of the party are no longer shared but are now firmly in her grasp.


This internal crackdown comes against the backdrop of failed merger talks with the Sharad Pawar-led NCP-SP. Following the vacuum left by Ajit Pawar’s untimely demise, the NCP-SP leadership had initiated subtle overtures to reunite the two factions under the guise of strengthening the party. However, Sunetra Pawar has now firmly put these speculations to rest. By categorically rejecting any possibility of a merger, she has forced a difficult reckoning within her own ranks. Her actions demonstrate a refusal to return to the shadow of the party patriarch, Sharad Pawar, who once famously dismissed her as an “outsider” to the family during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Sunetra’s current assertion of “mettle” is thus seen by many as a powerful rebuttal to that historical jibe, as she proves her ability to command the very organisation she was once told she did not belong to by blood.

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