Praful Patel calls for introspection as NCP candidate trails in Maharashtra Council polls

Mumbai Nationalist Congress Party leader Praful Patel on Wednesday (October 28, 2026) called for an immediate review of the party's priorities and organisational structure as its sole candidate appeared to be losing in the Maharashtra Legislative Council elections. The party candidate and three-time sitting MLC Satish Chavan was trailing in the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad) Graduates' constituency, as counting of votes was underway.

Rival NCP (SP) candidate Pratapsinh Patil was leading against him. We are firmly with NDA, no question of NCP reunification: Praful Patel We are firmly with NDA, no question of NCP reunification: Praful Patel We are firmly with NDA, no question of NCP reunification: Praful Patel storyline 1 In a post on X, Mr. Patel said the results were a clear and significant warning for the party and stressed the need for introspection to regain people's trust, realign priorities and bring about organisational reforms.

Notably, there have been indications of a rift within the NCP following then party chief and deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's death in an air crash earlier this year. Pawar's son Parth Pawar was reportedly playing a dominant role while Patel and another senior leader Sunil Tatkare were sidelined. Mr. Patel further said in his post that there was need for immediate and rigorous self-examination as the result was a definite wake-up call.

Earlier, he had expressed regret that the party could not get the Pune graduates' seat while discussing seat-sharing with its Mahayuti allies BJP and Shiv Sena.