Nationalist Congress Party
Nationalist Congress Party | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | NCP |
| President | Ajit Pawar (Deputy Chief minister of Maharashtra) |
| Spokesperson | Sana Malik Shaikh |
| Lok Sabha Leader | Sunil Tatkare |
| Rajya Sabha Leader | Sunetra Pawar Praful Patel |
| Founder | Sharad Pawar P. A. Sangma Tariq Anwar |
| Founded | 10 June 1999 |
| Split from | Indian National Congress |
| Headquarters | 10, Bishmabhar Marg, New Delhi, India-110001 |
| Student wing | NCP Student's Wing |
| Youth wing | NCP Youth's Wing |
| Women's wing | NCP Women Wing |
| Ideology | Liberal conservatism Secularism Economic liberalism Indian nationalism |
| Political position | Centre-right |
| Colours | Pink (post–2023) Pacific Blue (pre–2023) |
| ECI Status | State Party |
| Alliance |
|
| Seats in Lok Sabha | 1 / 543 |
| Seats in Rajya Sabha | 3 / 245 |
| Seats in State Legislative Assemblies | Indian states |
| Seats in Maharashtra Legislative Council | 8 / 78 |
| Number of states and union territories in government | 3 / 31 |
| Election symbol | |
| Party flag | |
| Website | |
| ncponline | |
The Nationalist Congress Party is one of the state parties in India and is one of the major political parties in Maharashtra with a recognised state party status in Nagaland and Kerala. The party has its presence in legislative assemblies of Maharashtra, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh, with being in the governing coalition in all of these states. Besides this, the party is also part of the current governing coalition National Democratic Alliance led by the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The original incarnation of the party was founded in 1999 by Sharad Pawar, P.A. Sangma, and Tariq Anwar after a split within the Congress. After major disagreements between top party leaders in 2023, a split between the party occurred. This resulted in two major faction emerging, one led by the founder president Sharad Pawar and the other led by Ajit Pawar. After a legal battle, the Supreme Court of India gave judgement in favour of the faction led by Ajit Pawar, and was allocated the party symbol and name. Subsequently, the Sharad Pawar led faction formed the NCP (SP). Under the leadership of Ajit Pawar, the NCP revamped itself and adopted the color pink to associate with the party.
The Nagaland state unit which was supporting the NDPP-BJP state government and the Jharkhand state unit of the party went with the Ajit Pawar-led NCP while the Kerala state unit of the party which was a part of the Left Democratic Front went with the Sharad Pawar-led NCP(SP).