Sharad Pawar announces Praful Patel, Supriya Sule as new Working Presidents of NCP

Pawar made the announcement on the 25th anniversary of the party, in the presence of Ajit Pawar, a key player in NCP

In a surprising development, Sharad Pawar put a succession plan in place for the 25-year-old Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) by appointing his daughter Supriya Sule and close aide Praful Patel as the two Working Presidents.

But, in the sudden revamp, Pawar's nephew Ajit Pawar, who is the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, does not find a place.

Also read | Shinde says govt has taken serious note of threat to Pawar; senior cops visit NCP chief’s Pune home

However, it may be mentioned that Ajit, a seven-time MLA from Baramati and four-time former Deputy Chief Minister, himself had declared a month ago that he was not keen to become the party chief.

The 82-year-old Pawar would continue to be the NCP President, a post that he has occupied since the party was founded in 1999 along with P A Sangma and Tariq Anwar. Supriya, the daughter of Pawar, is the MP from the family seat of Baramati.

Patel, one of the oldest associates of Pawar, is a former civil aviation minister and Vice President of the party.

The appointments come n the wake of the political developments of 2 May, when Pawar stepped down - after completing 63 year in politics - and appointed a committee to look for his successor. However, on 5 May, he bowed down to the demands by party leaders and workers and decided to continue as NCP President.

Pawar has stressed on the need for a succession line and announced to make organisational changes in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha polls. Known for springing out surprises, Pawar used to the opportunity of the 25th foundation day of the party to make the announcement.

As soon as the announcement was made, Ajit congratulated Supriya and Patel, who is considered to be Pawar's troubleshooter.

After the announcement, Supriya said: "I am grateful to Pawar Saheb and all the senior leaders, party colleagues, party workers and well-wishers of NCP for bestowing this huge responsibility of Working President along with Praful Bhai. To my fellow members of the party, because of whom we have come this far,I will work diligently along with all of you to further strengthen the NCP and we collectively will serve the nation for the larger good of our fellow citizens."

On his part, Patel said: "I thank Pawar Saheb for entrusting me with this responsibility as the Working President of NCP. With gratitude, I humbly accept this responsibility. I will work harder to help our party grow from strength to strength across India and also take our party's ideals and values to the grass root level. I am thankful to my party cadre for their continued support and together we will work for the well-being of our country and the people."

To keep everyone in the party in good humour, Pawar did a balancing act and chose two Working Presidents. There were reports that Ajit was getting close to BJP and may even jump ship, but the uncle-nephew repeatedly denied any such thing.

On Ajit and state NCP President Jayant Patil, Pawar said: "Ajit is the party's Legislative Party Leader and also Leader of Opposition while Jayant is state NCP President."