Sunetra Pawar's hold on the Nationalist Congress Party's top post is being contested from within. For Maharashtra politics, the dispute matters because the NCP is part of the ruling coalition and still adjusting to life after Ajit Pawar. NCP party national secretary Sachchidanand Singh has sent a legal notice calling her February 26 election as party president unconstitutional, and wants it declared "null, void and non-est," PTI reported via The Federal on July 13.

The challenge lands five months after Sunetra Pawar took charge of two of the most visible positions linked to her husband's political legacy. It tests whether a dynastic succession built in days of crisis can survive ordinary party politics once the shock wears off. For the NCP, a partner in Maharashtra's ruling coalition, an unresolved leadership dispute is not just an internal headache. It raises questions about who actually speaks for the party inside Maharashtra's ruling coalition.

From tragedy to succession in three days

Ajit Pawar, 66, died on January 28, 2026, when a private jet carrying him from Mumbai to Baramati crashed near Baramati airport, leaving Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister's post vacant, according to Gulf News.

Three days later, on January 31, the NCP legislature party unanimously elected Sunetra Pawar as its leader, and she took oath the same day as Deputy CM, becoming the first woman to hold that post in Maharashtra, per All India Radio.

Less than a month later, on February 26, the party went further. At its National Convention 2026 in Worli, Mumbai, the NCP unanimously elected her as NCP party president and named her son Parth Pawar as its Rajya Sabha candidate, All India Radio reported. In under a month, Sunetra Pawar had gone from grieving widow to holding both the government's second-highest post in the state and the party's top organisational chair.

What the legal notice actually alleges

Singh's notice, dated July 9 and sent through Delhi-based law firm ARS Associates, is addressed to her, National Working President Praful Patel, and general secretary Brijmohan Shrivastav, per PTI. It claims the election process skipped mandatory steps under the NCP constitution and gave no proper notice to delegates and office-bearers before the vote.

Party records dated February 17 show it had first been agreed that Patel, as National Working President, would officiate temporarily as National President, according to IANSlive. Singh says that arrangement was bypassed. "Instead of following proper constitutional protocols, Brijmohan Shrivastav, a General Secretary, independently passed a resolution on February 18, 2026, calling for a 'National Convention'," Singh said, according to IANSlive.

The notice also demands the party withdraw and recall its communications and filings before the Election Commission of India dated February 28, March 10 and April 29, 2026, all tied to the leadership change, per India News Stream. Singh has given NCP leadership 15 days to hold fresh polls, warning he will pursue further legal proceedings if they don't, India TV News reported.

The party's pushback

PTI quoted NCP spokesperson Suraj Chavan as dismissing the challenge, saying all rules were followed, and adding that Singh himself was present at the February 26 convention and voted for her by raising his hand, an inconsistency the party says undercuts his own claim.

Neither she nor Patel has responded directly; only Chavan has spoken for the party so far. That silence from the top is itself notable given how quickly the NCP moved to formalise her succession earlier this year, a pace that critics like Singh now argue cut corners.

What happens next

The 15-day window Singh has set has yet to lapse, and there is no official Election Commission or court statement yet on the outcome. If the party doesn't budge, Singh has signalled he could escalate the dispute to the ECI or the courts, turning an internal grievance into a formal legal fight over who legitimately leads the NCP. For a party still finding its footing after the death of its longtime leader, that fight is unlikely to stay behind closed doors for long.