Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders wrote a letter to the Election Commission of India (ECI) claiming changes to the party constitution to grant sweeping powers to working president Praful Patel, alleged NCP-SP leader Rohit Pawar, calling it a “pre-planned strategy” and demanded investigation into the entire matter on Wednesday (March 25, 2026). 

“Just within 18 days of NCP Chief Ajit Pawar, NCP leaders Sunil Tatkare, Praful Patel, and Brijmohan Srivastav wrote a letter to ECI without taking NCP Leader Parth Pawar, NCP president and Deputy Chief Minister (DCM) Sunetra Pawar, and the party MLAs into confidence. When Kaki got to know about it, she wrote a letter to ECI,” said Mr Pawar, also nephew of Sunetra Pawar. 

While reading the contents of the letter by Sunetra Pawar, Rohit Pawar stated that in the letter, “it is requested that any correspondence made by any person on behalf of the party in this regard between 28 January 2026 and the appointment of the new NCP president should be considered null and void.” 

According to Rohit Pawar, the first letter signed by NCP leaders Sunil Tatkare, Praful Patel, and Brijmohan Srivastav was written on February 16, 2026, following which Sunetra Pawar wrote another letter. 

Rohit Pawar’s statement has triggered another controversy after he filed a Zero FIR in Bengaluru concerning the death of former DCM and his uncle, Ajit Pawar. This is the first time he has directly targeted Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare and alleged that it was pre-planned to take control of the party in the absence of the national president. He cited the letters to ECI dated March 10 and February 26 with the signatures of Mr Patel and Mr Tatkare. 

After the death of Ajit Pawar on January 28 in a plane crash while landing at the Baramati airfield, his wife and Rajya Sabha MP Sunetra Pawar were appointed as DCM on January 31 and elected NCP president on February 26. 

Calling the move “suspicious”, Rohit Pawar said, “As we are still looking into his death, BJP leader Piyush Goyal called Praful Patel NCP’s president. Later, he called it a mistake, but when we look at the chronology, it seems Patel, Tatkare, and other leaders already decided to take control of the party, then the meeting of January 27 with these leaders needs to be investigated.” 

He claimed that instructions had been given not to raise the Baramati air crash in the ongoing Budget session of the Maharashtra legislature. As a result, most MLAs remained silent over the issue.

He also alleged that there were attempts to conduct “black magic” rituals outside Ajit Pawar’s residence before his death, possibly involving a self-styled godman from Nashik who is now arrested in a rape case.