NCP leader challenges Sunetra Pawar's election as party's national president

A fresh controversy has emerged over the election of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar as the national president of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), after a senior leader questioned the validity of the process and sought a fresh poll.

Sachchidanand Singh, a senior leader and national secretary of the party, has sent a notice through his lawyers questioning the legitimacy of the national president election held on February 26, 2026. The notice, issued on July 9, has been addressed to Sunetra Pawar in her capacity as party president, Praful Patel as executive president, and Brijmohan Srivastava as party secretary.

In the notice, Singh has claimed that the election of the national president was not conducted in accordance with the party constitution and should be declared invalid. He has sought cancellation of the election and called for a fresh poll under the supervision of an independent and impartial election officer.

Pending such an exercise, the notice has demanded that the election of the national president and the revised list of office-bearers be treated as null and void.

Singh, who currently serves as the party's Jharkhand state president, has been associated with the organisation for nearly 15 years. He was appointed national secretary in December 2023 at a party meeting in Karjat when the late Ajit Pawar was serving as national president. However, he was not a member of the executive committee that met on February 26, 2026.

The legal challenge revolves around developments following Ajit Pawar’s death on January 28, 2026. According to Singh, the party had submitted a revised constitution to the Election Commission on February 17, 2026, under which Praful Patel, then the national working president, was vested with the powers of the national president until a new chief was elected.

Singh has argued that under the revised constitution, Patel alone had the authority to convene a meeting of the national executive for electing a new president. He has questioned how party general secretary Brijmohan Srivastava could convene the February 26 national executive meeting if such powers were vested in Patel.

The notice also alleges procedural lapses in the process leading up to the election. It claims that a letter sent to the Election Commission on February 18 regarding the convening of the national executive meeting did not have the approval of the then members of the national executive committee, raising questions about the legitimacy of the subsequent election.

The development is likely to trigger a fresh debate within the party over the leadership transition that followed Ajit Pawar’s death. There has been no immediate response from Sunetra Pawar, Praful Patel or other party leaders to the allegations raised in the notice.

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