Ajit Pawar loyalists question leadership of Sunil Tatkare and Praful Patel in his party

Loyalists of late Deputy CM Ajit Pawar within the NCP led by his wife present Deputy CM Sunetra Pawar lashed out at their party’s spokesperson here on Friday and questioned the leadership of Sunil Tatkare and Praful Patel, indicating growing factionalism inside the party.

The immediate trigger was a statement made on Thursday by Ajit Pawar-led NCP’s spokesperson Anand Paranjape who said, “We have lost our god (Ajit Pawar), but unfortunately the Sharad Pawar-led NCP is politicising this incident”.

Advertisement

Reacting strongly to Paranjape’s statement, they said, “If Ajit Pawar left his official residence ‘Meghdoot’, to go to the Mumbai airport on January 28 morning, why was his CCTV footage not immediately requested from Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is also the home minister? If NCP state president MP Sunil Tatkare and national working president Praful Patel really had any faith in Ajit Dada, why did they not resign from their posts at that time? Now, instead of demanding a CBI probe after so many days, why wasn’t this demand immediately made to the Chief Minister, Prime Minister and Union Home Minister?”

A senior Ajit Pawar-led NCP leader, requesting anonymity, alleged, “Whatever is being said today is not out of any faith, but purely for political convenience. This stance is being taken due to family and political calculations of some leaders. In the future, some senior leaders in the party may take a different political stance”.

Praising the role of Sharad Pawar-led NCP MLA Rohit Pawar who made several revelations about the January 28 air crash which killed the late Ajit Pawar, the Ajit Pawar-led NCP leader said, “Despite being our rival party, he (Rohit Pawar) is constantly raising questions to ensure justice for those who lost their leader in this air crash. At such a time, senior leaders of our party (Ajit Pawar-led NCP) were expected to give moral support to his role, but they did nothing of the sort”.

“If tough decisions are not taken at the right time, it will be impossible to predict what the future direction of the party will be,” the Ajit Pawar-led NCP leader said ominously.

Meanwhile, in a related development, RTI activist Nitin Sanjay Yadav alleged on Friday that the Central government’s Department of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has refused to provide CCTV footage from Mumbai airport on the day of the plane crash which killed late Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

Yadav had filed an RTI application on February 10 to access the CCTV footage of Chhatrapati Shivaji Mumbai International Airport (CSMIA) airport between 6 am and 9 am on January 28, 2026, which is the day of the air crash.

However, despite repeated follow-up, the DGCA refused to provide him with the information, Yadav said.

Yadav claimed that the DGCA’s decision has created doubts among the general public about the air crash and many people are openly asking if it was really an air crash or foul play.

He said he had filed an appeal against the DGCA’s decision and again demanded the relevant CCTV footage of January 28 against, citing decisions of the Supreme Court and the Central Information Commission.

Yadav also requested the Mumbai Police Commissioner through RTI to provide the CCTV footage from the traffic police from the late the government guest house ‘Devgiri’ to Mantralaya on January 28 between 6 am and 9 am.

He demanded that all CCTV footage of that day be made public immediately, alleging that the refusal to provide the relevant footage is shocking since the late Ajit Pawar was an elected public representative holding a constitutional position.