The Nationalist Congress Party ( NCP) is one of the nine
national parties in India. The
party
A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature f ...
generally supports
Indian nationalism
Indian nationalism is an instance of territorial nationalism, which is inclusive of all of the people of India, despite their diverse ethnic, linguistic and religious backgrounds. Indian nationalism can trace roots to pre-colonial India, b ...
and Gandhian
secularism
Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on Secularity, secular, Naturalism (philosophy), naturalistic considerations.
Secularism is most commonly defined as the Separation of church and state, separation of relig ...
. It is the largest
opposition
Opposition may refer to:
Arts and media
* ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars
* The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band
* ''The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Comed ...
party in
Maharashtra
Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...
and is also a significant party in other states.
Party formation and performance
The NCP was formed on 10 June 1999, by
Sharad Pawar
Sharad Govindrao Pawar (Marathi pronunciation: əɾəd̪ pəʋaːɾ born 12 December 1940) is an Indian politician. He has served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra on four occasions. He has held the posts of Minister of Defence and Minist ...
,
P. A. Sangma
Purno Agitok Sangma (1 September 1947 – 4 March 2016) was an Indian politician who served as the Chief Minister of Meghalaya from 1988 to 1990 and Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 1996 to 1998. He was the candidate for the 2012 Indian presidentia ...
, and
Tariq Anwar after they were expelled from the
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...
on 20 May 1999, for disputing the right of
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
-born
Sonia Gandhi
Sonia Gandhi ('' née'' Maino; born 9 December 1946) is an Indian politician. She is the longest serving president of the Indian National Congress, a social democratic political party, which has governed India for most of its post-independ ...
to lead the party. When the NCP formed, the
Indian Congress (Socialist) – Sarat Chandra Sinha
Indian Congress (Socialist) – Sarat Chandra Sinha (ICS(SCS)) was a political party in India between 1984 and 1999. The party was formed through a split in the Indian Congress (Socialist), and was led by former Assam Chief Minister (1971–78), ...
party merged into the new party.
Despite the NCP being founded on opposition to the leadership of Sonia Gandhi, the party joined the Congress-led
United Progressive Alliance
United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is a centre-left political alliance of predominantly left-leaning political parties in India. It was formed after the 2004 general election with support from left-leaning political parties when no single party ...
(UPA) to form the
government of Maharashtra
The Government of Maharashtra is the state governing authority for the state of Maharashtra, India. It is a democratically elected government with 288 MLAs elected to the Vidhan Sabha for a five-year term.
Maharashtra has a Maharashtra Legisla ...
in October 1999. In 2004, the party joined the UPA to form the national government led by
Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh (; born 26 September 1932) is an Indian politician, economist and statesman who served as the 13th prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He is also the third longest-serving prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indir ...
. The NCP's leader, Sharad Pawar served as the
Minister of Agriculture
An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...
for both five-year terms of the Singh-led government. The party remained part of the Congress-led
Maharashtra
Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...
state government until 2014.
On 20 June 2012, P. A. Sangma left the NCP to contest
the presidential election, which he lost. In the
April and May 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the UPA lost to the rival
National Democratic Alliance
National Democratic Alliance (NDA) () is a Centre-right politics, centre-right to Right-wing politics, right-wing and Conservatism, conservative Indian big tent political alliance led by the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It was foun ...
(NDA) led by
Narendra Modi
Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...
and the NCP was out of government for the first time in ten years. The NCP broke its alliance with the Congress Party just before the
October 2014 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections to contest them on its own. In the assembly election the
Bharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...
(BJP) emerged as the largest party and formed a minority government, initially with support from the NCP.
In
April 2019, voting took place for the 48
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...
seats from Maharashtra. The Congress and NCP had a seat-sharing arrangement. Similarly, despite their differences, the BJP and
Shiv Sena
Shiv Sena ( IAST: ''Śiva Sēnā'') () was a right-wing to far-right Marathi regionalist and Hindu ultranationalist political party in India founded in 1966 by cartoonist Bal Thackeray. Originally emerging from nativist movements in Bom ...
once again contested the elections together under the NDA banner. The election was another landslide victory for the NDA, with the BJP and Shiv Sena winning 23 and 18 seats, respectively, out of the total of the state's 48 Lok Sabha seats. The Congress Party won only one seat in the state whereas the NCP won five seats from its stronghold of western Maharashtra.
During the
October 2019 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections, the BJP–Shiv-Sena and NCP–Congress alliances remained intact for seat sharing. The BJP and Shiv Sena together gained the majority of seats in the assembly but could not form a government due to disagreements between the two parties. The BJP, with 105 seats, was far short of the 145 seats required to form a majority and declined to form a minority government. As a result, Shiv Sena started talks with the NCP and Congress to form a government. However, in a controversial move, on 23 November 2019, the BJP formed a government with support from the NCP, with
Ajit Pawar
Ajit Anantrao Pawar (Marathi pronunciation: d͡ʒit̪ pəʋaːɾ born 22 July 1959) is an Indian politician. He is the Leader of the Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, and was the 8th Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra in his ...
as Deputy Chief Minister. This government collapsed three days later with Chief Minister
Devendra Fadnavis
Devendra Gangadharrao Fadnavis (Marathi pronunciation: ेवेंद्र फडणवीस born 22 July 1970) is an Indian politician serving as the 9th and current Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra since 30 June 2022. He served as ...
and Pawar resigning their respective positions. Finally, the NCP came back into power at the state level as part of the
Maha Vikas Aghadi
The Maha Vikas Aghadi or Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (English: ''Maharashtra Development Front''), abbreviated as MVA, is a state-level political coalition formed after the 2019 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election under the leadership of Ud ...
coalition formed with Shiv Sena and the Congress. On 28 November 2019, the governor of Maharashtra swore in Shiv Sena chief
Uddhav Thackeray
Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (Marathi pronunciation: d̪ʱːəʋ ʈʰaːkɾeː born 27 July 1960) is an Indian politician who served as the 19th Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 2019 to 2022. He was also the president of Shiv Sena prior to ...
as the new Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Thackeray's cabinet included ministers from the NCP in key portfolios.
However this alliance lost power on June 2022 after a rebel faction led by Shiv Sena leader
Eknath Shinde
Eknath Sambhaji Shinde (pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, knaːt̪ʰ ʃin̪d̪e born 9 February 1964) is an Indian politician and president of Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena, Shivsena serving as the 20th and Current List of chief ministers of Maha ...
gathered the support of a majority of Sena MLAs and reestablished the previous Sena-BJP coalition. Subsequently, on 20 July, NCP President Sharad Pawar dissolved almost all units of the party.
Ideology
The Mumbai President of the NCP
Nawab Malik
Nawab Malik ( Marathi:नवाब मलीक), is a politician, who served as the Minority Development, Aukaf, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister of Maharashtra and also the guardian minister of Gondia & Parbhani. He is the ...
said that the party advocates for
Indian reunification
Indian reunification refers to the potential reunification of India (the Republic of India) with Pakistan and Bangladesh, which were partitioned from British India in 1947.
Background
In 1947, British India was partitioned into the modern ...
, the proposal that India, Pakistan and Bangladesh become one country. Malik compared this to
German reunification
German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...
: "If the
Berlin wall
The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...
can be demolished then why not India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh come together?"
Party symbol
The election symbol of NCP is an analogue
alarm clock
An alarm clock (or sometimes just an alarm) is a clock that is designed to alert an individual or group of individuals at a specified time. The primary function of these clocks is to awaken people from their night's sleep or short naps; they ar ...
. The clock is drawn in blue and has two legs and an alarm button. It is situated on a tri-coloured Indian flag.
Party leadership
The party's primary base is the state of Maharashtra and its leadership reflects that. Since the 1980s, Indian politics has become more dynastic, possibly due to the absence of a party organization, independent civil society associations that mobilize support for the party, and centralized financing of elections.
This phenomenon is seen from the national level down to the district level. In that regard, the NCP is considered the party with the highest level of dynasticism in Indian politics.
The party founder, Sharad Pawar has many members of his family such as his daughter
Supriya Sule
Supriya Sule (; born 30 June 1969) is an Indian politician from the Nationalist Congress Party and currently a Member of Parliament (MP) in the 17th Lok Sabha representing Baramati. She previously served as an MP in the 15th and 16th Lok Sabha ...
and nephew
Ajit Pawar
Ajit Anantrao Pawar (Marathi pronunciation: d͡ʒit̪ pəʋaːɾ born 22 July 1959) is an Indian politician. He is the Leader of the Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, and was the 8th Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra in his ...
holding prominent positions in the party.
Electoral performance
General elections
State Legislative Assembly elections
List of Rajya Sabha members
State Presidents
*
P. C. Chacko -
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
*
Shankersinh Vaghela
Shankersinh Laxmansinhji Vaghela (born 21 July 1940) is an Indian politician and former Chief Minister of Gujarat. He was the Leader of Opposition in 13th Gujarat Legislative Assembly.
Vagela started his political career with the Jana Sangh, w ...
-
Gujarat
Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...
*
Hari R -
Karnataka
Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...
See also
*
Politics of India
Politics of India works within the framework of the country's Constitution. India is a parliamentary democratic secular republic in which the president of India is the head of state & first citizen of India and the prime minister of India is t ...
*
List of political parties in India
India has a multi-party system. The Election Commission of India (ECI) accords recognition to the national level and the state level political parties based upon objective criteria. A recognised political party enjoys privileges like a reserve ...
*
Maharashtra Rashtravadi Congress
Maharashtra Rashtravadi Congress (Maharashtra Nationalist Congress) is a minor splinter group of the Nationalist Congress Party in the India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh ...
*
Politics of Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state in the western region of India and is India's third-largest state by area. It has over 112 million inhabitants and its capital, Mumbai, has a population of approximately 18 million. Nagpur is Maharashtra's second, ...
References
External links
*
Original Hosted Website Of NCP from 2007 AD(originally https://www.nationalistcongressparty.com)
{{Authority control
Indian nationalist political parties
Social liberal parties
Liberalism in India
Socialist parties
Socialist parties in India
Political parties established in 1999
1999 establishments in India
National political parties in India
Maharashtra