Nationalist Congress Party
The Nationalist Congress Party ( NCP) is one of the state parties in India. The party generally supports Gandhian secularism. It is one of the major political parties in Maharashtra. In July 2023, majority of the elected MLAs and MLCs of the party led by Ajit Pawar joined the National Democratic Alliance government, however, all MPs except two are expected to remain loyal to Sharad Pawar. This caused a direct split between the Ajit Pawar-led NCP Faction and the Founder and President of the party Sharad Pawar. Party formation and performance The NCP was formed on 10 June 1999, by Sharad Pawar, P. A. Sangma, and Tariq Anwar after they were expelled from the Indian National Congress on 20 May 1999, for disputing the right of Italian-born Sonia Gandhi to lead the party. When the NCP formed, the Indian Congress (Socialist) – Sarat Chandra Sinha 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 (UPA) to form the government of Maharashtra in October 1999. In 2004, the party joined the UPA to form the national government led by Manmohan Singh. The NCP's