Prashant Kishor’s meeting with Sunetra Pawar stirs NCP, BJP

Prashant Kishor’s meeting with NCP national president Sunetra Pawar has triggered a fresh political churn within the party and raised concerns among its Mahayuti ally BJP in Maharashtra.

Kishor met Sunetra Pawar and her elder son Parth Pawar, a Rajya Sabha MP, on Thursday, while her younger son Jay joined the meeting virtually. The meeting came days after Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party registered a significant victory in the Bankipur Assembly bypoll in Bihar.

The meeting prompted speculation about Kishor’s possible role in the NCP and whether he had recommended replacing Maharashtra unit chief Sunil Tatkare. NCP state agriculture minister Dattatray Bharne, a close aide of Sunetra Pawar, confirmed on Friday that Kishor had been appointed as the party’s poll strategist, but denied that he had sought Tatkare’s removal.

“He is our poll strategist,” Bharne told reporters, adding that any talk of Tatkare’s removal was speculation.

Tatkare, however, questioned the need for a poll strategist and said he was unaware of any such appointment. He argued that electoral success depended more on connecting with people than on campaign strategies.

“I am a field person,” Tatkare said, adding that visiting villages gave him a direct sense of public sentiment. He also questioned how Kishor could serve as a strategist while heading his own political party.

Tatkare further stressed that the NCP followed a tradition of collective leadership and suggested that a decision of this nature could not be taken unilaterally.

The development also appears to have unsettled the BJP, which shares power with the NCP in the Mahayuti alliance. Maharashtra BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule said alliance partners had the right to take decisions within their parties but cautioned against steps that could create doubts or harm the alliance.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also said the BJP was not aware of the NCP appointing Kishor as a political consultant.

Bharne, however, defended the decision, saying the appointment was an internal NCP matter and that a stronger NCP would ultimately strengthen the Mahayuti alliance.

Kishor himself sought to play down the political significance of the meeting. Responding to Hindustan Times, he said it was a personal meeting with the Pawar family, whom he described as family friends, and had “nothing to do with politics.”Prashant Kishor’s meeting with NCP national president Sunetra Pawar has triggered a fresh political churn within the party and raised concerns among its Mahayuti ally BJP in Maharashtra.

Kishor met Sunetra Pawar and her elder son Parth Pawar, a Rajya Sabha MP, on Thursday, while her younger son Jay joined the meeting virtually. The meeting came days after Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party registered a significant victory in the Bankipur Assembly bypoll in Bihar.

The meeting prompted speculation about Kishor’s possible role in the NCP and whether he had recommended replacing Maharashtra unit chief Sunil Tatkare. NCP state agriculture minister Dattatray Bharne, a close aide of Sunetra Pawar, confirmed on Friday that Kishor had been appointed as the party’s poll strategist, but denied that he had sought Tatkare’s removal.

“He is our poll strategist,” Bharne told reporters, adding that any talk of Tatkare’s removal was speculation.

Tatkare, however, questioned the need for a poll strategist and said he was unaware of any such appointment. He argued that electoral success depended more on connecting with people than on campaign strategies.

“I am a field person,” Tatkare said, adding that visiting villages gave him a direct sense of public sentiment. He also questioned how Kishor could serve as a strategist while heading his own political party.

Tatkare further stressed that the NCP followed a tradition of collective leadership and suggested that a decision of this nature could not be taken unilaterally.

The development also appears to have unsettled the BJP, which shares power with the NCP in the Mahayuti alliance. Maharashtra BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule said alliance partners had the right to take decisions within their parties but cautioned against steps that could create doubts or harm the alliance.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also said the BJP was not aware of the NCP appointing Kishor as a political consultant.

Bharne, however, defended the decision, saying the appointment was an internal NCP matter and that a stronger NCP would ultimately strengthen the Mahayuti alliance.

Kishor himself sought to play down the political significance of the meeting. Responding to Hindustan Times, he said it was a personal meeting with the Pawar family, whom he described as family friends, and had “nothing to do with politics.”