Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar on Saturday named new working presidents for the party: his daughter and the Baramati MP Supriya Sule, 53; and the NCP’s current vice president Praful Patel, 66, who is a former Union Minister.
Mr. Pawar, 86, made the announcement in New Delhi on the 25th anniversary of the party, which he founded along with P.A. Sangma in 1999. He said, “I am bestowing the responsibility of NCP’s working president to Praful Patel; along with that, have given responsibility of the States of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Jharkhand and Goa. I am also giving the responsibility of Maharashtra, Haryana, Punjab, women, youth and Lok Sabha coordination to Supriya Sule as the working president.” He also gave the responsibility of Odisha, West Bengal, farmers, and the minority department to the party’s national general secretary Sunil Tatkare.
On May 2, the NCP chief had resigned as the national president of the party during the launch of his autobiography. At that time, there was talk of appointing a party working president, who would work closely with Mr. Pawar, and whom he would mentor.
