The exclusion of Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare from the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar faction) list sent to the Election Commission by Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar is a clear sign that all is not well within the party.
This is seen as a clear sign of a brewing cold war between Parth Pawar and Patel-Tatkare. Reports indicate that Parth intends to keep all decision-making authority within the immediate family and a circle of 'yes-men'. Both Patel and Tatkare were very close to Ajit Pawar and played a crucial role in stabilising Ajit Pawar's faction of the NCP after the split in the parent NCP led by late Ajit Pawar. While Patel played a key role in Delhi, Sunil Tatkare remained a strong organisation face heading the state unit of Ajit Pawar-led NCP.
A recent letter submitted by Sunetra Pawar to EC left out the names of Patel and Tatkare, exposing the growing cracks within the NCP. It was seen as a move to sideline and then edge out both senior leaders. Fueling the speculations further was Sunil Tatkare's recent meeting with Sharad Pawar at the latter's residence. Tatkare claimed that he had gone to meet Pawar senior as the latter had recently recovered after being hospitalised for a few days, and the two of them did not discuss anything political.
Further signalling that all is not well within the NCP is the sudden exit of former Lok Sabha MP Anand Paranjape. Paranjape has returned to Shiv Sena under the leadership of Eknath Shinde. Paranjape was always close to Shinde when he was in Shiv Sena. Since he joined the NCP, he became close to Ajit Pawar and joined his faction after the party split. Paranjape was hoping to be nominated to the Rajya Sabha in the seat left vacant after Sunetra Pawar resigned as an RS MP. But NCP did not give him the chance. So, an upset Paranjape decided to return to Shiv Sena.
Meanwhile, Sharad Pawar remarked that both Sunil Tatkare and Praful Patel had worked with him for several years, and he knew their capabilities very well; maybe the leadership of their party has a different assessment of both of them.
Sunetra Pawar had termed the exclusion of the names of Patel and Tatkare as a clerical error and said that it would be rectified.