Mumbai: Amid speculation over Thackeray cousins Uddhav and Raj coming together for an alliance, a section of leaders in the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) are hoping for a patch-up between the estranged Pawars.
This comes after frequent meetings between party supremo Sharad Pawar and his rebel nephew Ajit, who had broken away from the parent party in 2023. However, talks of any possible merger have been publicly downplayed by Sharad and NCP (SP)’s national working president Supriya Sule.
Highly placed sources within Sharad Pawar’s NCP told ThePrint that four party MLAs are of the opinion that the two factions should come together and be part of the state’s ruling Mahayuti alliance. These MLAs have been pressuring Sharad for quite some time.
Sharad Pawar’s informal interaction with the media in Pune last week apparently fuelled the speculation when he said that the decision to join hands with Ajit would be “left to the next generation”. He admitted to there being two opinions within the party. One section believes that if work in constituencies needs to be done, then NCP should reunite, while another section believes the NCP (SP) should not come together with Ajit Pawar’s faction, he said.
Sharad asserted that he himself had made up his mind to sit with the Opposition, and any decision on the NCP (SP) coming together with Ajit lay with Supriya Sule and state unit head Jayant Patil.
The merger idea was welcomed by Chhagan Bhujbal, senior leader from the Ajit Pawar-led NCP. “When Uddhav and Raj Thackeray’s talks of coming together started, I had said that if all estranged families come together, we would all welcome it. With Pawar saheb’s statement, there is a ray of hope,” he told reporters. “This is a positive thing and we all can benefit from his experience and NCP’s strength will also grow. My wish is that this reunion should happen very soon.”
A senior leader from the NCP (SP) told ThePrint that some of the MLAs had been pressuring Sharad and the final decision would be taken by him only. “If at all our party decides to merge, I will see what to do next. As of now, I don’t see that happening,” he said.
Another senior leader of the faction, who is close to the Pawars, said that the merger “is not possible as there are complications in doing so. It won’t work out just because a few people want it”.
Sule has told the media that like her father Sharad, she would sit in the Opposition. “My father has decided to stay with the Opposition, and I firmly stand by him,” she said.
While any merger decision may be a political one for legislators of the NCP (SP), for Rohit Pawar, grandnephew of Sharad and nephew of Ajit, it will be more than that.
“It is also about family and when it comes to family, it becomes an emotional decision too. Everyone wants the family to be together. However, if the parties need to come together, then the decision will rest on Sharad Pawar, Supriya Sule and Jayant Patil, and on the other side Ajit Pawar, who need to all sit down and decide collectively,” Rohit, who is an NCP (SP) MLA, told the media in Pune Friday.
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Why the buzz?
In July 2023, Ajit Pawar left NCP with his faction of leaders, and formed an alliance with Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and the BJP. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Sharad Pawar’s NCP performed exceedingly well, winning eight of the ten seats it had contested, while the Ajit-led faction could win only one of the four seats it had fielded candidates in.
The tables turned a few months later during the Maharashtra state elections, when Ajit’s faction won 41 seats, while his uncle’s party could secure only 10 in the 288-member assembly.
Rumours about the two NCPs likely coming together started over the last one month after Sharad and Ajit were seen at multiple functions together. From attending together Ajit’s son Jay’s engagement ceremony to sharing space at a function at Vasantdada Sugar Institute, they constantly bumped into each other.
Following the engagement ceremony in early April, Ajit had downplayed any political angle to the meeting by saying that families come together on celebratory occasions and there was no need to interpret it from any other perspective.
Then, within a few days, the uncle and nephew shared the dais in Satara at a meeting of the Managing Council of Rayat Shikshan Sanstha at Chhatrapati Shivaji College.
A week after that, they met for the third time at Sakhar Sankul (Sugar Complex) in Pune at an event attended by officials from the Vasantdada Sugar Institute, where they discussed the subject of bringing artificial intelligence applications into agriculture.
Post the meeting, NCP (Ajit Pawar) MLC Amol Mitkari said that if both parties come together, their workers and leaders would be happy. “We all respect Saheb (Sharad Pawar). He is a senior leader with over 50 years of experience. He meets several political leaders. Some people feel both parties shouldn’t come together. But if it (coming together) happens, it would be great,” he told the media.
A second senior leader of the NCP (SP) told ThePrint that if Sharad himself admitted that such talks were going on, then “definitely the discussions around it can grow”.
“There are these four MLAs from western Maharashtra especially Solapur who are dilly-dallying over joining. Although it’s a complicated process, they are pressuring and disturbing the party,” he said.
One of the MLAs the leader was referring to is Uttam Jankar from Malshiras in Solapur district.
Speaking to the media, he said: “We (he and other MLAs) have spoken to Jayant Patil and he has conveyed our views to Pawar saheb. Our collective view is that the two factions should come together and be part of the ruling alliance. Be it MLAs or MPs, we have been presenting our stand. If it happens, grassroots workers will be able to work cohesively. The reunion will be welcomed and will strengthen the party.”
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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