3 min readPuneMay 27, 2026 04:05 PM IST
A day after a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) meeting in Mumbai, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and party chief Sunetra Pawar and state president Sunil Tatkare Wednesday dismissed reports of heated internal arguments and factional friction.
The statements came in response to reports of an intense verbal showdown between Tatkare and veteran leader Chhagan Bhujbal at the party’s core committee review.
“The news circulating in the media regarding disputes during the meeting is completely baseless and devoid of facts,” Sunetra Pawar said in a statement. “The Nationalist Congress Party remains firmly united under my leadership, and we will all continue to work together for the strengthening of the party.”
”During the meeting, everyone unanimously passed a resolution expressing their determination to strengthen the party across the state,” she said.
Similarly, Tatkare, when approached by The Indian Express, said no arguments happened between him and Bhujbal at the meeting. ”No such happened at the meeting… We are senior party leaders, and we know how to strengthen it. And we are doing that.”
However, an NCP leader said that Tatkare expressed deep frustration, noting that when he faced attacks from both inside and outside the party, no one came to his defence or spoke in his support. This situation led to arguments between Tatkare and Bhujbal, according to the leader.
However, after the meeting, Bhujbal Tuesday denied any rift between him and Tatkare. He told the media that he was merely advising Tatkare to “exercise restraint”.
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Responding to the developments in the NCP, BJP leader and Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said he does not believe there were any disputes “Chhagan Bhujbal was with me until late last night… I don’t know where the news of a dispute came from.”
The NCP has been facing difficulties in the last two months, particularly after Sunetra Pawar wrote two letters to the Election Commission of India, in which she did not mention the titles of Tatkare and another senior leader, Praful Patil.
The first letter was sent on March 10 to register Sunetra Pawar’s appointment as NCP national president. The letter mentioned only the name of Shivajirao Gajre as treasurer. It mentioned the names of other leaders without their designations. The revised letter was sent to the ECI on April 29, but soon Sunetra Pawar clarified that there was a technical error in the letter regarding the omission of the designations of Patel and Tatkare.
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