Sunetra Pawar unanimously elected as NCP national president

Nearly a month after Nationalist Congress Party chief Ajit Pawar’s sudden death, the party’s national conference on Thursday (February 26, 2026) unanimously elected his widow Sunetra Pawar as his successor, while his son Parth Pawar was chosen to represent the party in the Rajya Sabha.

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Praful Patel was re-elected as the NCP’s national working president, while Sunil Tatkare was unanimously re-elected as the president of the party’s Maharashtra unit. It was Mr. Patel who moved the motion to propose Ms. Pawar as national president, seconded by Mr. Tatkare.

Challenges stacked against Sunetra Pawar, who will take charge in a turbulent political scenario, amid a flux in two parties

Accepting the position in an emotional speech, Ms. Pawar said that while the new responsibility might be challenging for her, it would not be impossible. “Politics and social life are not new for me. I have lived with a storm named Ajit Pawar for 40 years. I have been connected with NCP, directly or indirectly over the last several years,” she said.